Portland Public Schools

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Portland Public Schools offers a variety of supports and opportunities for students and their families to increase their understanding of adolescent substance use and healthy decision-making.  

We are excited to be able to offer a district-wide training for students and their families at the end of February that will focus on substance use prevention. More details and information will be available in upcoming weeks.

If you need support or assistance, these resources are available:

Support on high school campuses: Currently, there are counselors, social workers and other support staff in high schools. While counselors and social workers are not able to provide substance abuse counseling, they can be a great place to start in terms of identifying resources and getting ideas about the appropriate level of support for your child. Please call the main office of your school to find out the name of your child’s counselor or to find out if your school has a school social worker.

Licensed substance use counselors: Through partnerships with adolescent treatment programs, some high schools have licensed substance use counselors on campus one or two days a week. To find out more about accessing this resource and if there are insurance restrictions, please contact your student’s counselor or the school social worker.

Insight classes: Insight class is an educational program designed for students in grades 6-12 and their families who are seeking information about the impact of alcohol and other drugs on youth. This includes students who have violated Portland Public Schools substance use policy. For more information, including referral forms, see this webpage.

Online Toolkit: PPS also maintains an Online Toolkit that has resources, information and a list of upcoming events. The creation of the toolkit was funded by a generous grant from Regence to expand our substance use prevention services.

For additional questions about services and the REAHL Initiative, please contact Mary Krogh.

-Mary Krogh, PPS Coordinator of Drug & Alcohol Supports