This year's CanDo Spirit Award goes to Andres Cantera, who serves as an independent living program case manager for On the Move’s VOICES program that supports emancipating foster youth.

Some of the young people who most need mental health services have been conditioned to avoid them. A new youth-led initiative hopes to use peer outreach to overcome that. Listen to the KCRB interview. 

Sunshine & Jessica talk about how they became involved with VOICES Sonoma and the impact that it has had on their lives. 

“I am passionate about the work I have the opportunity to do every day. I have worked in the youth development field for over 16 years and consider it my mission to ensure that young leaders in our community are listened to and respected. “ - Amber Twitchell

Matt-Moon Bailey talking about VOICES on KVON 1440 - Begins at minute 34:00

Angelica De La Torre discussses her experience of foster kids being overprescribed psychotropic drugs.

Program Director of Voices, Amber Twitchell, joins KSRO 103.5FM to discuss the foster system in California.

Tyler-St. Clair, 21, of Santa Rosa is one of a half-dozen young adults who spent a year assessing the county’s extended foster care services. They were expanded in 2012 to youth between 18 and 21 under Assembly Bill 12, a new state law aimed at helping older foster youth transition to independence.

When she was 9 years old, Angelica De La Torre saw her mother fall from her pedestal of strength and virtue into a place torn apart by methamphetamine addiction. Unable to deal with the loss of the single most important person in her life, De La Torre herself fell into depression and helplessness.

Amber Twitchell is the director of VOICES, a youth-developed and -led community center that provides services to former and current foster youth, homeless youth, and other disconnected youth in our community. Her staff consists of 22 young people between the ages of 16-26, all of who have direct experience in various systems of care.