Humboldt supervisors honor HCTC on 16th anniversary as youth speakers urge continued support

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on April 2024 issued a proclamation recognizing the 16th anniversary of the Humboldt County Transition Age Youth Collaboration (HCTC) and heard testimony from multiple youth leaders and staff about the program’s impact.

Kala Peltier Olsen, identified herself as the lead organizer of HCTC and described the program’s founding in 2008 after a county foster‑youth resource mapping project. Olsen said HCTC brings together youth with lived experience to influence foster‑care, juvenile‑justice, mental‑health and homelessness services and credited the program with helping secure peer‑specialist positions across counties.

Sonia Lovey Boyd, a behavioral‑health supervisor who has overseen the program for nearly seven years, told the board she has seen the program save lives and support staff and youth alike. Kelsey Reedy, a youth organizer, and other youth advisory board members recounted how HCTC’s peer coaches and the TAY (transition‑age youth) drop‑in center helped them find housing, employment and stability.

Several speakers outlined specific services: the TAY drop‑in offers workshops and peer coaching, an independent living skills program (ILS), and launch programs that provide short‑term rent support to help youth transition to independence. Speakers also said HCTC has twice testified before the state legislature and helped shape training for child‑welfare workers.

Youth speakers invited supervisors to HCTC’s Sweet 16 celebration on April 15, and multiple presenters warned of funding uncertainty tied to state actions and ballot measures affecting the Mental Health Services Act. Supervisors thanked presenters and commended the program’s role as a protective factor for underserved youth.

The board did not take a policy action on funding at the meeting; presenters asked supervisors to continue support and to consider program needs during upcoming budget deliberations.

The proclamation and youth remarks gave the board a forum to hear direct accounts of program outcomes, and youth organizers urged the county and community partners to sustain the services that helped participants pursue education, employment and recovery.