What is the purpose of this site? To give teens the information they need to be successful while they are in the care of the New York State Office of Children and Family Service—in foster care or in the juvenile justice system—and after they leave the system. Is it only for teens? No. We hope staff will also use it to find resources they can share with teens. We encourage staff to refer teens to the site and to print out stories or resources for teens that they will find helpful. There are a lot of stories by teens. Are they true? The stories are true. All of the stories were written by teens in the Youth Communication teen writing program. Most of them were in foster care, but not all of them. Also, all the artwork is by teens in the Youth Communication illustration program. Youth Communication publishes Represent: The Voice of Youth in Care and other magazines and books by and for teens. For more info see www.youthcomm.org. Who’s behind this site? This site is a collaboration between Youth Communication and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. We work together to insure that the site is as accurate and complete as possible. However, Youth Communication is ultimately responsible for the content on the site. (If you find something you think is in error, or if you have a suggestion for improving the site please send an e-mail to the editor, Laura Longhine: llonghine at youthcomm.org. What if I see a mistake, or know of a program that should be listed, or have a suggestion? Please send a note to llonghine at youthcomm.org. We want to make this site as accurate, complete, and helpful as possible. Your help is important! How do you keep so much information accurate and up-to-date? It’s hard! Websites change. Programs change. Eligibility rules change. Always call a program to confirm that they are still doing what we say they’re doing and to get more information. And, if you find changes we haven’t caught, please let us know and we’ll correct them. Who built the site? The inspiration for this site—and much of the initial information—came from the www.youthsuccessnyc.org, a website specifically for teens in the New York City foster care system. Laura Longhine, editorial director at Youth Communication, is the editor. Several other Youth Communication staff and interns have made important contributions to the site, including Naomi Solomon, Keith Hefner, Stephanie Liu, Efrain Reyes, Jeff Faerber, and Joanne Pendola. Teen writers for Represent, most of whom are in foster care, often review content to make sure it is helpful to youth in care. Represent editors Autumn Spanne and Virginia Vitzthum work with teens to create the stories which appear on the site. Staff at OCFS, and teens at Youth in Progress, have helped with the site, including Diana Fenton, Linda Brown, Valerie Tomeck, and many others. We are grateful for their support and to Commissioner Gladys Carrion for championing this effort to help teens and staff. Can I reprint information from this site? You can reprint anything for use with or by individual teens or for informal use with small groups of teens. If you want to use the stories, artwork, or photos in other ways (such as in a curriculum, training manual, or agency newsletter) you must contact Youth Communication for permission at info@youthcomm.org. All of the stories, artwork and photos originally appeared in Youth Communication publications and are copyrighted by Youth Communication. Some other material is copyrighted by OCFS, and some is used by permission of New Yorkers for Children, and originally appeared on www.youthsuccessnyc.org. Please contact Youth Communication for information regarding this material as well (except for informal use with small groups of teens, which is permitted without request). Attention Youth Communication writers and artists: If, at any point, you decide you would not like to have your byline, photo, or story or illustration on this website (or on the Youth Communication website), please let us know and we’ll take it down. Send a note to info@youthcomm.org. |
