Oklahoma schools now have a new tool for helping students avoid substance use before it starts. Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced a free statewide program aimed at building resilience in kids well before the opioid crisis can reach them.
This new initiative joins other services in The Sooner State to prevent vulnerable populations from getting addicted in the first place.
Oklaloma READY Makes Kids Ready
The program is called Oklahoma READY, short for resilience, education, awareness, and decision-making for youth. Schools can access the program at no cost to districts. Drummond framed the initiative as an early-intervention strategy rather than a response to the crisis. “We can’t prosecute our way out of the opioid crisis,” he declared. “We must raise a generation that never gets pulled into it in the first place.” Drummond added, “Oklahoma READY gives our schools a proven tool to build that resilience early, and it doesn’t cost districts a dime to bring it into their classrooms.”
Educator training for the program is scheduled in two sessions this summer: one in Oklahoma City on July 23, and one in Tulsa on August 3. Districts across the state can send staff to either location to get the curriculum ready for the coming school year.
Substance Use Among Oklahoma Youth
Substance use prevention programs aimed at adolescents typically focus on building decision-making skills and resilience before experimentation begins, rather than waiting until a young person is already using drugs.
Common early signs of substance use in teens include declining grades, withdrawal from family or longtime friends, sudden changes in mood or energy, and secrecy about where time is being spent. Programs like Oklahoma READY are designed to give schools tools to address risk factors early, before those signs appear.
Local Resources and Next Steps
Oklahoma READY joins a growing list of statewide prevention resources, but families dealing with a young person who’s already using substances need treatment options now. Oklahoma has addiction treatment centers and support groups across the state that specialize in adolescent care, and many accept Medicaid through SoonerCare or work with families to find affordable options.
Parents and guardians who suspect a teen is using drugs or alcohol can start by talking with the school counselor about available resources, then move toward a formal evaluation and intervention with a treatment provider experienced in adolescent substance use.
Prevention curricula and treatment access work best as a pair rather than as separate efforts. Oklahoma READY can reduce how many students start using substances, but it doesn’t replace the need for accessible adolescent-specific treatment for students already struggling. Many treatment centers offer outpatient and intensive outpatient programs designed around a teenager’s school schedule, so families do not have to choose between keeping a child in school and getting them help.
Rural Oklahoma communities, where access to specialized adolescent treatment can be harder to find, may benefit most from pairing school-based prevention with telehealth counseling options, since driving distance to a treatment center is often the biggest barrier families report.
Addiction Treatment in Oklahoma & Beyond
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