The Caregiver Foundation is committed to providing practical, financial, and emotional support to Hawaii’s caregiving youth through a variety of programs supported by community partnerships and grants. The Caregiver Foundation would like to specifically acknowledge the support and guidance of the American Association of Caregiving Youth in developing this program. 

This page contains an overview on caregiving youth and links to the Youth Caregiver Resource List and Youth Caregiver Financial Assistance Fund. 

Who are Caregiver Youth?

Caregiver youth (also referred to as “young carers”) are young people who provide unpaid care for someone with a physical illness, a disability, a mental health condition, or a substance use disorder. The care they provide may be practical (like helping someone take their medication), emotional (like helping someone cope with their emotions), or physical (such as helping someone get around the house). Caregiving youth may support a parent, a grandparent, a sibling, or another loved one.

According to a report from the National Alliance of Caregivers and United Hospital Fund, 1.4 million children in the U.S. provide caregiving support to a family member–that’s nearly 2% of the country’s population of children (although this number is assumed to be an underestimate). Among Hawai’i’s nearly 306,000 youth, this would equate to at least 5,821 youth caregivers in the state. New research suggests that this number may have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.