With emerging evidence on the increasing prevalence of caregiving youth—that is, young people under age 18 who provide significant, ongoing care for a family member at home, we learn that caregiving is closely tied to youth’s academic, social, and emotional well-being; and discuss the challenges and uneven successes of identifying, measuring, and categorizing caregiving youth. The only program which is providing ongoing, formalized support for caregiving youth in the US is the Caregiving Youth Project, a 13-year-old program that is operated in partnership with The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida (Cohen et al., 2011). How can we recognize and support caregiving youth via policy and practice in the US, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and public health crisis. Our aim is to increase the awareness and feasibility of identifying and supporting caregiving youth and their families via government-organized data collection and targeted social policies.

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