Stories Make a Difference for Foster Teens

Document Author: National CASA - Carla Spaccarotelli, Editor
Publication: The Connection, Spring 04
Posted: 4/04

Represent, which began publication in 1993, is a bi-monthly magazine written by and for young people in foster care. Represent is designed to give a voice to young people living in the system by providing a forum for an open exchange of views and experiences by those most impacted by foster care. Many adults--social workers, group home staff, advocates and agency administrators--read the magazine to understand what foster youth are thinking and experiencing. The magazine is written by a core writing staff of 15 youth in New York City, but accepts and receives submissions from throughout the country.

FCYU's hope for Represent magazine is to send foster youth on their way to planning their futures, negotiating the present and making their voices and experiences known. Sample topics covered in Represent in the last few issues include: mentors, mental illness, stress, body image, independent living and managing money. The magazine has a regular poetry feature and offers essay contest encouraging youth to write on a variety of topics. Represent can serve not only as a great resource for foster youth but also as a way to better understand what teens are going through and offer them the help needed to succeed.

Represent is one of two magazines published by Foster Care Youth United-Youth Communication, an organization that helps teenagers develop their skills in reading, writing, thinking and reflection, so they can acquire the information they need to make thoughtful choices about their lives. Represent also offers workshops and curricula for educators to replicate their methods of teaching writing and producing publications. FCYU carries out their missions by training teens in journalism and related skills; publishing magazines, books and other materials written and illustrated by young people and encouraging teens and the adults who work with them to use our publications to stimulate reading, writing, discussion, and reflection.

Stories from Represent have been anthologized in several books by Youth Communication. The Heart Knows Something Different (Persea Books, 1996) is a collection of personal essays first published in FCYU; in addition, The Struggle to Be Strong: True Stories By Teens About Resilience (Free Spirit, 2000), Things Get Hectic: Teens Write About the Violence That Surrounds Them (Simon & Schuster, 1998) and Out With It: Gay and Straight Teens Write About Homosexuality (Youth Communication, 1996) feature stories from FCYU and New Youth Connections.

A yearly subscription (6 issues) to Represent is $18. For more information on Youth Communication, Represent magazine or other publications, visit www.youthcomm.org