Four-year-olds are carers

Support needed for Plymouth families

Children as young as four are acting as carers for parents with drink and drugs issues in Plymouth, councillors have heard.

Members of the city council’s cabinet, meeting on Monday, agreed to pull together existing services into a ‘Family Hub’, supporting children and young people who have their own issues over drink and drugs as well as those of their parents.

Cllr Mary Aspinall (Lab, Sutton and Mount Gould) said it was important to identify children’s challenges early, to prevent them needing ‘more intrusive and invasive’ interventions in later life.

Emma Crowther, the city’s interim head of commissioning, said: “This is about supporting young people whose parents have issues, and we hope this will streamline access to support.”

Ms Crowther said the number of children and young people acting as carers appears to have fallen in Plymouth, but there are fears the figures gave a false picture.

“We don’t believe there has been a fall,” she said. “We think there is a risk that there are more children and young people taking on caring responsibilities, but hidden from view for fear of what might happen if their caring responsibilities are discovered.

“They might not realise the extent of the caring they are taking on in their everyday lives, because it is just a part of what they have always done.

“Some of our young carers are as young as four or five – reception age children. They are more likely to go on to be adult carers, and we want to make sure they have the same choices and opportunities as their peers.”

Council leader Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) said the apparent fall in the number of young carers is worrying, and it is important to discover the reason behind it.