It is estimated that there are over 100,000 young carers in Scotland. These are young people under the age of 18 years who are providing care to a relative or friend who is disabled, has a chronic illness, mental health or addiction problem or other condition connected with a need for care or support. Young carers are often hidden from the services that are there to support them. They can often carry out significant or substantial caring tasks and assume a level of responsibility which would usually be associated with an adult.
While the Scottish Government's position is that adult carers should be seen and supported as equal partners in care, the position with young carers is different. While children and young people can derive considerable reward and purpose from taking on caring responsibilities, it is important that this does not make inappropriate or onerous demands on them. The Scottish Government's commitment is, thus, to support and enable young carers to be children and young people first and foremost and to protect them from inappropriate caring.
The government's commitment is evidenced by the recent publication of "Getting It Right for Young Carers" ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/07/23153304/0 ), the first ever national young carers strategy.
Further, the Scottish Government invested £450,000 to support the delivery of the Scottish Young Carer Festivals in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In "Getting It Right For Young Carers" the Scottish Government announced that it would provide further funding to enable the Scottish Young Carers Festival to take place in 2011.
"Getting It Right For Young Carers" links closely to other Scottish Government policy developments, including Curriculum for Excellence, the Additional Support for Learning Act ( Just Ask ), Children Affected By Parental Substance Misuse and, in particular, Getting It Right for Every Child . These links aim to ensure that young carers are identified and better supported by staff in education, health and social work services.