Teen Addiction: Helping Parents Understand, Connect and Navigate Services

Nine million of America's teens and young adults are struggling with drugs and alcohol¹, yet unlike most other adolescent health issues or diseases, parents have not found a concise path to resources and support for teen drug and alcohol addiction. A new science-based resource called Time To Get Help from The Partnership at Drugfree.org was just released in beta form to begin helping meet these needs.
Resources within Time To Get Help include:

• Learn: Intervention and Treatment e-books for download
• Make a Plan: worksheets and checklists
• Helping Hand Questions & Answers: contributions fromexperts in the field
• Words of Hope: a forum where people can post short Twitter-like messages
• Share Your Story and Journals: to tell stories, track experiences and progress

Each year for the past 25 years, The Partnership at Drugfree.org has conducted research not only with teens and young adults, but also with parents and the larger population. In study after study, people use words like “alone,” “isolated,” and “afraid” when talking about dealing with dependence and addiction in young people. Far too many parents and adults with a child in their life feel they lack the knowledge to take effective action, have no one to talk with and nowhere to turn. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Time To Get Help is an example of translating scientific learning that can also specifically benefit adults with a child in the juvenile justice system. This first-of-its-kind resource can help parents:

• navigate adolescent alcohol and drug dependence and addiction;
• receive support from top experts and talk with parents who have been there; and
• understand treatment options for their child and family.

We will constantly strive to improve and expand these resources to help the public understand that addiction is a treatable disease, and that there’s hope. In fact, in mid-2011, Time To Get Help will be backed by a national toll-free parents' helpline where licensed clinical social workers will help callers receive direct support and guidance in navigating treatment options and managing their situation.
It’s just a beginning, but one that will grow as the community grows and needs are expressed. Come take a look at Time to Get Help and let us know what you think!

Steve Pasierb is President and CEO of the The Partnership at Drugfree.org.