Watch this powerful TEDx talk by Feylyn Lewis, PhD, a former Caregiving Youth and member of the AACY National Advisory Council. She shares her story of growing up as a caregiver for her disabled mother and the challenges she faced. https://youtu.be/6EPCFyeUElk

This talk is an important reminder that we need to do more to support youth caregivers in the US. They are often isolated, scared, and alone.

Children, Society’s Safety Net: A Youth Caregiving Story | Feylyn Lewis | TEDxVanderbiltUniversity

“In the UK and specifically England, there are hundreds and hundreds of dedicated NGOs to support youth caregivers. There is actually named policy giving a legal duty to identify and support youth caregivers. There are dozens and dozens of research surveys, including national surveys, to count the numbers of youth caregivers.

This flies in the face of the United States, where we are considered to be only an emerging country in the field. We estimate that there are at least 5.4 million children under the age of 18 with a caregiving role. Yet we have no named state or federal policy explicitly protecting their rights.

We have one solitary dedicated NGO, the American Association of Caregiving Youth, based in Boca Raton, Florida. They do phenomenal groundbreaking work, particularly in South Florida schools. I serve on their advisory board…”

“Feylyn grew up as a youth caregiver for her disabled mother. In 2013, she moved to the United Kingdom to obtain her PhD in Social Work, studying young adult caregivers in the US and UK. In her talk, When Children are Society’s Safety Net, she shares with us the journey that sparked her passion, research, and support of youth caregivers.”