Lack of Evidence Casts Doubt on Success of Teen Overdose Program

Why it Matters

The federal government has been telling Congress and the public for years that a major youth drug prevention program is working. But a Government Accountability Office investigation released June 16 found little evidence to support those claims. The report says the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, which distributes grants to community coalitions focused on preventing substance use among youth 18 and under, lacks the data infrastructure to prove it's actually reducing drug use among young Americans.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has claimed consistently since 2023 that the DFC Support Program is meeting its strategic goal of reducing substance use among youth. But the agency acknowledged in its own June 2025 evaluation report that it cannot establish a causal relationship between substance use changes in communities and the program itself.

The Evidence Problem

The GAO spent months examining the DFC Support Program's data framework. Investigators analyzed annual evaluations, management protocols, and budget data spanning fiscal years 2018 through 2025. They conducted surveys and site visits of DFC coalitions selected by geography and size. They interviewed agency officials and contractors responsible for program evaluations.

What they found was a house built on sand. GAO identified inconsistencies in DFC program data and also found unclear data sources. These weren't isolated problems in a single report or year. By law, DFC coalitions have flexibility in how they collect data, which creates legitimate variation. But ONDCP's cross-site evaluations have not transparently described their methodologies, making it impossible for Congress or the public to assess whether the program's claimed successes are real.

The problem runs deeper than sloppy recordkeeping. When the ONDCP claimed in its June 2025 National Cross-Site Evaluation Report that the DFC program is meeting its strategic goal, the same report acknowledged it is not possible to establish a causal relationship between substance use changes in communities and the DFC program. That's a critical admission. It means ONDCP cannot actually prove the program is causing the reductions it claims to have observed. The distinction matters enormously for policy decisions.

Structural Gaps in Program Management

Beyond data reliability, GAO uncovered enforcement gaps that undermine the program's statutory foundation. The DFC Support Program operates under statutory authority that requires coalitions to maintain involvement of representatives from 12 community sectors.

Diverse community participation is supposed to strengthen prevention efforts. Yet ONDCP has not consistently enforced compliance with this statutory requirement. The agency has worked to ensure new coalitions meet program requirements. It has provided access to mandatory training for DFC coalitions. It has established an internal controls framework to help ensure grantee compliance. But voluntary measures and best practices aren't the same as enforcement. Without consequences for non-compliance, the statutory mandate becomes an advisory.

The report shows that ONDCP also lacks transparency in its budget process. GAO couldn't obtain clear information about carryover balances available for the DFC program's administrative expenses, essential to understanding whether the agency is managing taxpayer resources responsibly.

What GAO Wants Fixed

The GAO made 6 recommendations to the Director of ONDCP regarding the DFC program, and the ONDCP concurred with all of them. But all 6 GAO recommendations are currently open, meaning none have been completed.

The recommendations target the core accountability problems. GAO recommended that ONDCP develop a strategy to identify relevant data to better understand the DFC program's impact. It recommended that ONDCP explore ways to standardize its data collection methodology for its four core measures, and also ensure its annual evaluation reports include complete documentation of the methodology used to develop findings and conclusions.

On the enforcement side, GAO recommended that ONDCP establish clearly defined performance goals and measures for the DFC program's strategic goal of collaboration among communities. It also recommended that ONDCP establish and implement enforcement procedures for DFC coalitions that do not maintain representatives from all 12 community sectors. Finally, GAO recommended that ONDCP provide Congress with information on the carryover balance available for the DFC program's administrative expenses.

The Broader Context

The GAO report is 126 pages long and includes detailed findings on program management, data collection practices, and performance measurement. It represents a comprehensive assessment of how ONDCP administers youth substance abuse prevention grants. The SUPPORT Act mandates GAO to review ONDCP's programs and operations, including the DFC program, every 4 years, and the timing of this report reflects that statutory obligation.

GAO added drug misuse to the 2021 High-Risk Series, and the U.S. declared the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency in 2017. That declaration remains in effect. The scrutiny of the Drug-Free Communities Support Program reflects broader concern about whether federal drug control efforts are delivering results.

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