Missouri Governor Vetoes $1 Million in Opioid Settlement Funds for Teen Prevention Programs

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe eliminated $1 million in opioid settlement funding designated for adolescent substance use prevention programs when he signed the state's $50.7 billion budget on June 30, 2026. The veto targets Prevention Resource Center grants that funded school-based early intervention for teens showing warning signs of substance misuse, a cut advocates warn will reverse progress in a state that has achieved a 23% decline in opioid overdose deaths.

The vetoed programs

The $1 million veto zeroed out Section 10.107 of the state budget, which supported the state's Prevention Resource Center network through four regional organizations. PreventEd, serving seven counties in eastern Missouri, had received one of these contracts for the past two years. The organization stands to lose approximately $250,000 in annual funding.

"Really, what that veto represented was a reduction of a million dollars in funding for our state's Prevention Resource Center network," said Adam McBride, Director of Advocacy at PreventEd. "This would have been the third year that that money had been allocated—not from general revenue, i.e. tax dollars. That money came from opioid settlement funding."

The vetoed funding supported GuidEd, a free early intervention program for adolescents ages 12 to 19. School counselors, administrators, and teachers referred students showing early warning signs of substance misuse involving alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, or other substances. The program provided assessment, counseling services, education, and referrals to outside treatment resources based on individual needs.

Since 2014, GuidEd has served more than 1,215 participants. The program carries no cost to school districts or families, offering what McBride described as "course correction" to prevent the full-blown development of substance use disorders.

Broader cuts to addiction services

The Prevention Resource Center veto represents only a portion of the funding reductions affecting Missouri's addiction services infrastructure. The Missouri Coalition of Recovery Support Providers requested $6 million to fund recovery centers across the state; Governor Kehoe vetoed half of this amount—a $3 million cut that recovery advocates say will eliminate services for 1,200 people statewide.

"Cuts like these are gonna reverse those trends of the lowered overdose deaths and increase the amount of people who are unhoused here in Springfield and around the state," said David Stoecker, executive director of the Springfield Recovery Community Center.

The Springfield Recovery Community Center provides more than 100 support groups, life skills classes, and pro-social activities designed to help people in recovery rebuild their social lives without alcohol or drugs. While the $3 million veto will not directly impact his center's budget, Stoecker said it will hurt smaller organizations that fill critical gaps in care—treatment centers, recovery residences, and counseling services for people who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance or deductibles.

The funding context

The vetoed dollars came from Missouri's Opioid Addiction Treatment and Recovery Fund—money paid out by drug companies and pharmacies through court settlements, not general tax revenue. In his veto message, Governor Kehoe wrote that he eliminated the $1 million designated for prevention resource center grants because "the Opioid Addiction Treatment and Recovery Fund is overappropriated."

The cuts arrive on top of $1.3 million in additional prevention funding for alcohol and youth prevention services that failed to pass during the general legislative session. Combined, Missouri's prevention infrastructure network has lost $2.3 million in funding since mid-May.

National implications

Missouri's funding cuts reflect broader tensions in addiction policy nationwide. The state achieved a 23% decline in opioid deaths and a 17.4% reduction in accidental drug poisonings for 2025—outpacing the national average. Public health officials attribute these gains to sustained investments in naloxone distribution, harm reduction infrastructure, and expanded treatment access.

Advocates warn that cutting prevention and recovery services now risks reversing hard-won progress. The timing coincides with shifting federal priorities under the Trump administration, which has moved to deprioritize harm reduction strategies and redirect funding toward abstinence-based models. Missouri's state-level cuts compound these federal pressures, creating what Stoecker calls a "double hit" for community-based providers.

What comes next

Recovery advocates are already looking toward the next budget cycle, hoping lawmakers will reconsider the human cost of these reductions. For now, organizations like PreventEd and the Springfield Recovery Community Center are leaning on community support to maintain services.

"In a lot of communities, there may only be one option if a place gets defunded and not all people get the services that they need through just one place," Stoecker said. "So, contact your local nonprofits, and you can donate to them; you can volunteer time."

The vetoed programs served populations at critical intervention points—adolescents before substance use disorders fully develop, and uninsured or underinsured adults seeking recovery support. Their elimination raises questions about how Missouri will sustain its overdose death reductions without the prevention infrastructure that contributed to those gains.

People seeking help for substance use disorders can find treatment programs and resources nationwide, including options for medication-assisted treatment and levels of care suited to different stages of recovery.