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Aaliyah Taylor, a 16-year-old high school sophomore, is used to having more responsibilities than a typical teenager. She helped her dad feed and tend to her grandmother until she died in 2023, tasks that frequently stressed her out as she was trying to manage her own health issues, like her scoliosis.

鈥淚 felt like every 5 seconds I was called for something, even though I just sat back down,鈥� she said.

Mariyah Carson, Taylor鈥檚 best friend and a 15-year-old freshman, managed similar family duties as her uncle struggled with diabetes-related immobility and blindness until his death a few years ago. She remembers planning with her siblings how they would approach his care.

鈥淲e鈥檇 take turns. Like, if you鈥檙e doing homework, it鈥檚 my turn, and I go down there and watch him,鈥� Carson said. She and Taylor said they continue to help out with other loved ones.

On a recent afternoon inside a Charles Drew High School auditorium, the two sat next to each other at a table topped with plastic bags, fragrant oils, and sugar pouches. The girls quipped and giggled over the instrumental jazz background music while they made body scrub bags, kits intended to help them relax at home.

Carson and Taylor are students at the school in Riverdale, just south of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The body scrub station was the opening activity for this school year鈥檚 final session of the Young, Gifted and Caregiving program, a new Atlanta-area initiative to support high-schoolers responsible for taking care of adults or children.

While most of the in the United States are adults, experts estimate that there are who provide this type of work every year. Research on is limited, but that young caregivers struggle to care for themselves and are at higher risk of anxiety and depression, chronic diseases, and dropping out of school.

These risks are what Young, Gifted and Caregiving aims to address. Once a week throughout February and March, Michelle Bolden, a registered nurse and the founder of the Atlanta caregiver support nonprofit , traveled to Charles Drew to lead lessons for 10 students.

She and an array of guest speakers 鈥� like attorneys, nurse practitioners, and mental health specialists 鈥� have tried to teach the students how to manage caregiving responsibilities while maintaining their own well-being and ambitions.

It鈥檚 the first time Bolden, who recently finished a Chamberlain University doctoral nursing program, has hosted in-person classes for high-school caregivers.

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 create that community without them being in-person,鈥� Bolden said.

Erin Kent, a caregiver research associate professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, said that while there鈥檚 strong evidence that , there are few, if any, analyses that have examined the best ways to aid high-schoolers with these responsibilities.

But she said evaluating new programs, like the Charles Drew program, is how researchers like herself can determine what could help young people in that position. And school-based initiatives could be more effective at finding teenage caregivers than programs in other settings.

鈥淪chool is probably going to be the place that reaches more youths,鈥� she said.

School supports teens with caregiving duties at home

Tangela Benjamin had only been Charles Drew鈥檚 principal for a few months when she was called to address a student meltdown in October 2023. The sleep-deprived girl complained about how the school鈥檚 rules conflicted with family duties.

鈥淪he said, 鈥楢 lot of parents don鈥檛 parent, and responsibilities that should be on adults are on teenage kids,鈥欌�� Benjamin said. 鈥淎nd she was like, 鈥業 happen to be one of these kids with all of these responsibilities.鈥欌��

The principal knew there were plenty of students in Riverdale, where the is $16,000 below , who face hardships at home even without tending to their loved ones鈥� needs. Learning that some faced an extra set of duties, Benjamin said she felt obligated to find a way to extend the school鈥檚 support.

鈥淚t was very much a great eye opener, and it quickened my spirit a bit,鈥� she said.

It鈥檚 a big reason why a year later, when she met Bolden and heard about her work, she jumped at an opportunity to bring a program tailored for high-school caregivers to Charles Drew. Last fall, the Charles Drew staff put together an email survey to find students who have been informal family caregivers. The administrators identified 30 students, and they invited 10 to join the Young, Gifted and Caregiving program.

Bolden wanted to help all 30, but she said it would be difficult to create deep connections with that many students.

鈥淥nce it gets too large, they鈥檙e not going to talk,鈥� she said.

Those 10 students, including Taylor and Carson, were invited to attend four weekly classes throughout the winter to learn about how to balance their family responsibilities and their own well-being. Among the skills facilitators taught in each session were basic CPR techniques, chronic disease management, and supportive strategies.

The Young, Gifted and Caregiving program also hosted a , a fundraiser for the school and for a program to give from their family duties. Bolden said one of the caregiver students on the Charles Drew cross-country team won the race.

At the start of the high school program, Bolden wasn鈥檛 sure how long it would take the students to feel comfortable sharing about home lives and experiences with caregiving. But she said it was clear from the first session that they were open to it.

鈥淚 thought it would go really slow,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut they just picked up and really engaged right away.鈥�

Program helps teens balance caregiving with self-care

At the final session this school year, Bolden invited two guest speakers to share how the students could make plans to prioritize their own health needs while tending to their family members.

It鈥檚 a balance some of the Charles Drew caregivers are still trying to figure out. While working at a local farmers market over the summer, Zahion Mikell, a 16-year-old sophomore who helps care for his siblings and great grandmother, remembers scampering from one task to the next when another employee asked to check his blood pressure.

鈥淚 was just ripping and running, ripping and running,鈥� said Mikell, who also serves as a .

The screening showed that he was at risk of hypertension, and the other employees told him to take care of his health.

Mikell said he tried to do that. But at the first student session of the Young, Gifted and Caregiving program, when Bolden and the other facilitators were teaching the students how to use a blood pressure pump cuff with their family members, they used Mikell鈥檚 arm in a demonstration. Once again, his numbers concerned the adults around him.

Since then, Bolden and the Call for Caring workers have made sure to check Mikell鈥檚 blood pressure at their weekly meetings. While reading his levels at that final session, Bolden told him he had moved from the 鈥渞ed zone鈥� to the 鈥測ellow zone.鈥�

鈥淪o that鈥檚 good,鈥� Mikell said.

鈥淏ut for you that鈥檚 high,鈥� Bolden responded. 鈥淣o, not good.鈥�

鈥淚 like yellow though,鈥� Mikell replied as the adults around him laughed.

Some of the students expressed the mental and emotional toll that caregiving has taken on their well-being. Tiandra Hodge, another 16-year-old sophomore, has only lived in the metro Atlanta area over the summer. She鈥檚 from the British Virgin Islands, but she left her parents and life in the Caribbean to finish her education in the United States last summer.

Hodge lives with her sister and helps feed and bathe her sister鈥檚 children, all under age 6. When the stress of adjusting to a new country, a new high school, and a new set of family responsibilities becomes overwhelming, Hodge said she can forget to eat.

She said she has few options to vent about her problems with anyone in-person.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult,鈥� she said.

That鈥檚 one of the reasons she said she鈥檚 found the Young, Gifted and Caregiving class helpful. At the end of that fourth session, in response to Bolden asking the student caregivers to share one thing that stood out about the class, Hodge focused on the shared community the program had created.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have nobody to talk to about this,鈥� Hodge told everyone in the auditorium.

Caregivers get continued support as they dream big about future

Bolden is excited for Young, Gifted and Caregiving鈥檚 future. She plans to lead another session at Charles Drew next school year, hoping to engage and support the other caregiver students who couldn鈥檛 fit in the first year.

She also hopes to recreate the program in at least two other Georgia schools this year. Bolden wants to host a series at one of Atlanta鈥檚 high schools and a middle school in Sandy Springs.

With these plans of expansion, she said she wants to make clear to this year鈥檚 Charles Drew students that support for them won鈥檛 wither away. Throughout the final session, Bolden brought up multiple times that her nonprofit would continue to engage with the inaugural class members and help with any challenges they might continue to experience.

She even suggested that they could be student ambassadors for the next Charles Drew caregivers in the program.

鈥淭hese are adults you can trust and still be able to network,鈥� Bolden told the students, gesturing at the Call for Caring workers and the Charles Drew staff who had joined the session. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want you to think that because you鈥檙e here in this situation, it鈥檚 not going to get better.鈥�

Kent, the University of North Carolina professor, said one long-term benefit she鈥檇 expect from a program like Bolden鈥檚 is that the students now know that they are caregivers. With that knowledge, she said, the teenagers can start to seek out help for any issues that may come up.

Just before getting some cake to celebrate the class鈥檚 completion, Taylor, the 16-year-old who cared for her grandmother, talked about her future aspirations. She envisions moving to Houston and working as a chef or an entrepreneur.

But if she鈥檚 put in a position where she has to care for adults again, like her parents, Taylor said she feels more prepared to meet that task. She鈥檚 a little nervous about forgetting the lessons of the past month, but she now knows there are resources for people in her position.

鈥淚 would be more experienced to help my mom and my dad once they get a little bit older.鈥�

Allen Siegler is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Allen at asiegler@healthbeat.org.

Healthbeat is a nonprofit newsroom covering public health published by , which also publishes Chalkbeat. Sign up for Healthbeat鈥檚 newsletters .

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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