Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and Google Expand Efforts to Help More Families Find Answers on Teen Substance Abuse

NEW YORK – October 29, 2015 – Today, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing substance abuse among adolescents, and Google announced that they are expanding their ongoing efforts to make resources on teen substance abuse easier for families to find online.

Google will now highlight the Partnership’s Toll-Free Helpline (855-DRUGFREE) in Google search results when U.S. families search for help for help with a child’s substance abuse.

“Google search helps people find the information they need, in the moment they need it,” said Laura Wittig, Program Manager for User Advocacy at Google. ”For years, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids has expertly helped families cope with difficult drug-related issues. We’re proud to make their Helpline easily findable in Google search results.”

The Helpline phone number will appear in response to relevant searches in the U.S. When parents search on a mobile device, they can tap the number directly to begin making the call. Google shows similar hotlines in the U.S. and around the world for poison control, suicide prevention, human trafficking, and child safety.

Google and the Partnership also announced that they have begun to feature the Partnership’s public service announcements (PSAs) addressing teen medicine abuse when users search for video content on YouTube with specific keywords.

“The helpline and the YouTube PSAs are just the latest examples of Google’s ongoing work with the Partnership,” said Marcia Lee Taylor, president and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. “Google has been a terrific digital partner in helping us reach more families, whether they are interested in getting information as they talk with their kids about drugs, specifically medicine abuse, or if they are seeking support or help for a child struggling with addiction.”

Google has helped the Partnership reach parents and families with relevant and useful information in a variety of ways. Since 2014, Google has provided more than $1 million in AdWords support, serving up the nonprofit’s resources with prominent and visible placement.

Additionally, the Partnership and Google teamed up to develop a ‘Drug Guide’ app, a version of the Partnership’s popular guide, for both Android and iOS. It provides information for parents about drugs most commonly abused by teens – including photos, slang terms and short- and long-term effects.

For more information of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, please visit drugfree.org.

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