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Angel Shelton never imagined herself holding a leadership position as she spent her teen years in the foster care system in Milwaukee. Now, at 20, she’s the new vice president of Wisconsin’s Youth Advisory Council, hoping to advocate for the needs of foster youths. 

The Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council began in 2005 and consists of current and former youths in foster care who work with government officials to advocate for foster youths in the state. 

“I wasn’t planning on running for this position,” Shelton said. “I guess God had other plans for me.”

Issues she plans to highlight as vice president include the need for improved transportation, more social workers, increased support and expectations for foster parents and more mental health resources. 

She became acutely aware of foster youths’ needs before and during her time in foster care. 

“When we do get a little support, we have to put our foot on the gas to get it fully,” Shelton said. 

Entering a life-changing program

At 16, Shelton met Christine Woods, independent living supervisor at Wellpoint Care Network, who placed her in supervised independent living at 17. 

“Ms. Woods was like an angel that walked up to me and opened all the doors to my journey,” Shelton said. 

Woods later encouraged her to participate in Youth Transitioning to Adulthood, a program that supports youths aging out of foster care by assisting with education, employment, housing, health and care connections. 

While in the program, Woods made Shelton feel secure and introduced her to new opportunities, like becoming a secretary and vice president of the program.

Woods said she admired Shelton’s vulnerability and acceptance of constructive feedback and encouraged her to become a member of the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council.

“In the beginning, Angel was shy, and now she’s just out there, and I think it’s because she knows people are listening,” Woods said. 

After a year of serving as vice president of the local Youth Advisory Council and filling other roles, Shelton delivered an impromptu speech for a seat on the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council and won all the votes to become vice president. 

“Her speech was a standing ovation,” Woods said. 

Becoming vice president marked Shelton’s latest step in leading efforts to improve the lives of youths in foster care. 

Providing better transportation services

As a leader on the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council, Shelton is prioritizing transportation services.

She remembers being late for school each day and knows there are many foster youths with mental health challenges or disabilities that struggle with transportation. 

Also, in a conversation with a peer, she was made aware that some youths aren’t given enough funds to take public transportation.

A call for social workers

Although Shelton had a supportive social worker before aging out, she knows all foster children don’t have the same experience.

She hopes to push for more compassionate social workers who will spend more time with the youths.

“They need to understand that we don’t have parents to call on, so we need more social workers who will be present and hands-on,” she said. 

Shelton wants social workers to check in with children weekly and in person, instead of once a month. 

“I see both ends of the stick between young people and other people of authority like social workers and the system, but I want them to understand how we feel,” she said. 

Improving support for foster parents

Another goal of Shelton’s is for foster parents to participate in workshops that provide proper training and expectations for their role, like providing youths with hygiene products, laundry bags and more.

“I want this to be a mandatory workshop where they’re held accountable,” she said. 

Shelton hopes the workshop reminds individuals that youths should be treated with dignity.

“With some foster parents, once you transition out of their house, they are going to put your things in bags and out,” Shelton said. 

While living in a group home for two weeks, Shelton noticed a lack of hygiene products as well. 

“I ended up telling somebody that I couldn’t live like this, and that’s when I was switched over to my own place,” she said. 

Supporting mental health

Losing a friend to suicide motivated Shelton to open up about proper care for mental health.  

Her goal is to provide more mental health services for at-risk individuals who are 12 to 19. 

“Certain feelings are so normalized now, that some don’t even realize they’re battling something,” Shelton said. 

Woods says Shelton can utilize Wellpoint Care Network’s mental health services to link individuals to different forms of therapy like art, music, games and other outlets. 

To ensure every voice can be heard, Shelton said the council will be creating a TikTok account that posts every day in 2026.

The posts will feature videos from foster youths, parents, staff and professionals asking questions, and the council responding with answers.

“I wanted to create a different system nationwide for everybody, not just (Youth Transitioning to Adulthood),” Shelton said.

Watching her sister shine

Seeing Shelton in a leadership role didn’t surprise her oldest sister, Desirae Shelton, but hearing she won vice president brought her to tears. 

“She is living proof that where you come from doesn’t define where you will go,” Desirae Shelton said.

She admired how her sister carried pain but turned it into purpose as she grew more confident and willing to speak up for herself and others. 

“I just want Angel to make youth feel seen and supported,” she said. “I hope she brings attention to what kids go through emotionally.”

Plans for the future

In May, during Foster Care Awareness Month, Shelton will lead an annual mental health panel for the council, professionals, foster parents and relatives to discuss their lived experiences, needs and other topics. 

An Avenues West resident and nursing student at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, Shelton plans to become a nurse practitioner or a professional in the mental health field. 

In the next few years, she also wants to start a nonprofit that provides mental health services and a group home for at-risk teens.

“Whether I’m helping people in foster care or the juvenile system, mental health is at stake for both,” she said. 

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For more information

You can learn more about the work of the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council by attending its monthly meeting. They’re held every second Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Wellpoint Care Network, 8901 W. Capitol Drive in Milwaukee.

Individuals who are interested in becoming a part of Youth Transitioning to Adulthood can click here to register for its monthly mandatory orientation. 

‘Where you come from doesn’t define where you will go’: Former foster child becomes vice president of the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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For over 30 years, Ruby Johnson-Harden and her husband fostered Milwaukee youths in need of temporary homes. 

Though fostering is time-consuming and sometimes challenging, Johnson-Harden said she understood the need for children to have a safe place to go and for their parents to get the support they need. 

“It is definitely hard to give children back even when you know the intention is to give them back,” she said. “But you think about it, and there is always another kid that needs somewhere to go.” 

Though the number of children being removed from their homes is decreasing, the foster care system in Milwaukee, and in Wisconsin in general, is under growing strain.

Advocates say the problem isn’t strictly a shortage of foster homes, but a mismatch between the needs of many children entering care and the level of support, training and resources that foster families have to provide what’s needed. 

Few feel equipped enough or are willing to take on teens and children coping with trauma, behavioral health challenges or emotional dysregulation, according to foster care advocates. 

Shortage of proper placements

“In Milwaukee, we have enough foster homes and other placement providers for children. Everybody is placed,” said Jill Collins, ongoing services section manager for the Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services. “But we don’t necessarily always have the right match for children.” 

She said that because youths with mental health or behavioral needs are harder to place, some children are placed in group homes or residential care facilities where professionals are better equipped to meet their needs. 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families’ data dashboard, 7,000 children are placed in out-of-home care annually. That includes kinship care, foster care and other residential facilities. 

The Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services reported that at the beginning of 2024 there was an average of 1,743 children in out-of-home care. 

According to the dashboard, the older a child is when entering the system, the less likely it is for the child to be placed in a home. 

In 2024, there was an average of 515 children aged 12 years or older in out-of-home care. Of these older children, 275 (53%) were placed in a family-like setting, 146 (28%) were placed in congregate care, and 94 (18%) were in other care.

Ninety percent of children aged 12 and under were placed in family-like care. 

“I had few teens,” Johnson-Harden said. “Usually they’ve already been through so much that they are kind of set in their ways. It’s harder for them to open up.” 

DeShanda Williams-Clark, chief program officer at Pathfinders, works with many young people who are already a part of the child welfare system. 

“They’ll come in if they don’t feel safe in their placements,” Williams-Clark said. 

She said the young people Pathfinders serves can have a number of nuanced concerns that can fall through the cracks. Some are experiencing homelessness or are survivors of trafficking and exploitation, she said. 

“(The youths) have given feedback and say, well, I don’t feel safe being at my group home because my group home is publicly listed,” she said. “Or we’ve had children say, ‘I know this family is receiving a check for me because they’re reporting that I have worse behaviors or that I need medication.’ ”  

What’s being done

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families is working to reduce the number of children in out-of-home care through its Putting Families First initiative. 

The initiative focuses on keeping families together by supporting them in-home with resources and services. In situations where families can’t stay together, the initiative emphasizes relying on people already in the child’s or children’s network before resorting to foster care. 

As a result of this approach, there has been a decline in the number of children who are removed from their homes and taken into foster care, said Emily Erickson, director of the Bureau of Permanence and Out-of-Home Care at the agency.

“We have been focusing on solutions that are community-based, that can support parents in healing and growing while they continue to parent their children in their homes safely,” Erickson said. 

She said the program utilizes a mix of formal and informal support networks to help provide safety but allows children to stay in their homes because research shows a lasting negative impact once relationships are severed. 

Additionally, DCF funds the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness program for youths who have aged out of foster care. 

According to Williams-Clark, the program not only helps young people who have aged out of the child welfare system find housing, but it also supports them through the entire process. 

The program gives young people a choice regarding independent living, she said. 

“Then we give them wraparound care and support by making sure they have access to socially integrate into the communities that they want to live in, helping them to set goals for education and their academics, getting them connected to income and employment programs, and then just really working on those life skills,” Williams-Clark said.

How you can help

Advocates suggest several ways you can help. 

One way is to consider fostering. 

“The need is great. Especially for teens and siblings,” said Jane Halpin, a recruitment consultant with Community Care Resources, a private foster care agency.

She said it can become difficult because it’s time-consuming, but you won’t be alone. Community Care Resources offers around-the-clock support to those who foster through the agency. 

Williams-Clark said people need more education around fostering to help destigmatize the work of the child welfare system. 

Wisconsin Department of Children and Families officials suggested being a support system for family and friends who may be in need and considering specialized training to become a foster parent who can care for older youths or children with higher needs. 

They also encourage local organizations, churches and individuals to support foster families and children, not just through financial means but also by offering practical help and emotional support. They also encourage the use of community resources to support families before involving the child welfare system, to minimize trauma.

Johnson-Harden said the rewards of fostering are immense. 

“Fostering kids, to me, is about the joy of showing up for children in your community,” she said. “It’s about supporting a family and doing your best to lessen any trauma they’ve already experienced.” 

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Fewer children are in foster care, but finding homes remains a challenge is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.