From
the 1st April 2026 Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) plans to end its contract
and funding for our work identifying and supporting Young Carers. This means Carers in Hertfordshire will have to significantly reduce the amount of
support and activities we can provide you and other young carers.
The
responsibility of meeting Young Carers' needs will be at HCC, but the details of what this support will be are still being developed.
After
30 years of providing support for Young Carers, this is not the news that we want
to share.
What’s changing?
- HCC plans to move Young Carers' support into planned Family Hubs, and
will no longer fund the Young Carers Service at Carers in Hertfordshire. HCC want to
involve young carers in this.
- Carers in Hertfordshire
will provide the full service until April 2026.
- After that, there may
not be a separate specialist Young Carers service - it will be part of the
wider family support.
The Young Carers Council have talked about the changes,
and this is what they are concerned about:- Being
overlooked and forgotten about in a family service.
- Losing a
sense of community or activities with other young carers.
- Loss of
our young carer ‘voice’ - how will we get our voice heard in important
decisions?
- It feels
like ‘young carer’ will just be a label, rather than support.
- We’ve not
been involved in them making this decision.
The Young Carers Council would love to know what your thoughts are about this
change.