Council Member - Current

Ms. Fuller spent the first seven years of her life in kinship cares, At age 8 she entered foster care and was subsequently adopted. Currently, Latasha is the Resident Manager with LIFE Skills Foundation. She has been working with Foster Youth, and as an Advocate for Children, for the past... Read more

Mr. Baughman was involved in the system at a young age, eventually he would reunify with his mother. He was inspired to help others through his personal story to create change in the system and give youth a chance to be heard. He strives to effectively impact practice and policies... Read more

In the start of her advocacy , she found the significance of utilizing her voice to implement political changes through the 2016 Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Day program. As a participant, she used her voice to explain and illustrate to legislators the challenges many youth experience in the child welfare... Read more

Years in care: 6 Danno Mannino is a 23-yr-old white, low-income, genderfluid, bisexual, and polyamorous-identified social justice advocate with a mental illness. Danno uses the gender-neutral pronouns they/them/theirs. They reside in Southern Oregon, where as a child they experienced foster care, temporary legal guardianship, and two unsuccessful attempts at reunification... Read more

Eric Warner grew up in Arkansas and entered their foster care system when he was 8 years old. There were many placements (11 in total) that he was moved to including traditional foster home placements, congregate care facilities, and emergency shelters. Shortly after his 18th birthday, Eric ‘aged out’ of... Read more

Melissa has dedicated her life and career to empowering foster youth. Years of instability growing up in foster care and bouncing from home to home sparked her passion to reform the child welfare system. After ‘aging out’ of the system, Melissa started collaborating with advocacy groups to empower and lift... Read more

Justin Abbasi works as an Investigator with Children's Law Center in Washington, DC. Justin graduated in May of 2018 from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Sociology and a minor in Global Health Studies. Justin was raised in South Carolina by his biological... Read more

Shay has been in the foster care system since she was 2 years old. During her time in foster care, she experienced 45 different homes, 8 different group homes and 23 different schools. Shay House is a senior at Mills College where she is pursuing a self-designed major in Politics... Read more

David Hall was placed in Oklahoma’s foster care system twice. His time in care included kinship, traditional, and congregate care placements that resulted in an expedited case due to negligence and overmedication, fearing liability. In his early adolescence, he experienced multiple breaking points and was involved in the juvenile justice... Read more

Brittney Barros, age 21, Michigan's Foster Care System Brittney, after living with neglect, entered her first time in care at the age of 11. After struggling for a long time, her mom finally regained custody of Brittney and her siblings. Watching her mom beat drug addiction and getting a stable... Read more