Caregiving Youth
Who are Caregiving Youth?
Caregiving Youth are children and adolescents who are 18 years of age or younger and who provide significant or substantial assistance, often on a regular basis, to relatives or household members who need help because of physical or mental illness, disability, frailty associated with aging, substance misuse, or other condition. - American Association on Caregiving Youth
Do All Caregivers Matter?
Huffington Post- updated April 26th, 2017 - blog
By Feylyn Lewis Read it here
Youth as Caregivers Initiative at PSS
According to the American Psychological Association, at least 1.4 million children in the U.S. between the ages of 8 and 18 provide care for an older adult or sibling, including approximately 400,000 youngsters who are between the ages of 8 and 11. A report from the National Alliance on Caregiving (NAC) showed that youth caregivers typically live in lower income households where on third are caring for a grandparent and one third for a parent, with two thirds of these young caregivers living in the same home as the one for whom they are providing care. About half (49%) of youth report that they spend "a lot of time" caregiving. Many of the children and youth are performing tasks that go beyond routine chores and required levels of responsibility traditionally assumed by adults.
Most youth caregivers report feeling isolated as their own problems go unrecognized. Just as adult caregivers, miss struggle with or stop working , youth caregivers are late for or miss school, have difficulty completing homework, and may even quit school to help out at home. The majority cannot participate in age appropriate activities. These caregiving children need recognition, information, practical training on running a household and caregiving, understanding at school, homework help, peer friendships, social/recreational activities and opportunities to "just be kids'
Presbyterian Senior Services in NYC partnered with the American Association of Caregiving Youth to address the needs of caregiving youth in grand-parent led families Read more
Read the NYSCRC Blog Post by Damond Haynes - Youth and Adult Program Manager for PSS.
Youth Caregivers: A Growing Population -
Family Caregiver Alliance
E
arlier this year, Mark's world was turned upside down when his mother's Multiple Sclerosis took a turn for the worst, leaving her in a wheelchair and unable to care for herself as tremors and weakness made it difficult to even prepare her own breakfast. Since Mark's mother and father have been divorced since he was a toddler, the role of being his mother's primary caregiver has fallen to him at just 16 years of age. Now, with so much concern for his mom's wellbeing, Mark has trouble focusing at school and the former straight-A student is trying to figure out how to make up for the days of school he misses when his mom is just too ill to leave alone. Read More
