Florida continues to rank third in the nation in the number of calls to the national Human Trafficking Hotline. Image: Shutterstock

Centerstone's regional chief executive officer Melissa Larkin-Skinner has been named a member of the Direct Support Organization for the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking by Florida House Speaker Jose R. Oliva. Her appointment is effective immediately and expires October 24, 2021. A licensed mental health counselor with 25 years of experience in mental health and addiction prevention and treatment, Larkin-Skinner has worked with children and adults of all ages in diverse programs including inpatient, outpatient, crisis intervention, intensive community-based and child welfare. She has designed and operated several programs to meet community needs, including the first children's Community Action Treatment (CAT) team in 2004, which has been adopted as Florida's statewide model for serving youth who are struggling with severe mental health, behavioral and co-occurring disorders. She regularly provides state and federal policy feedback and engages in legislative advocacy in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. She also currently serves as the only behavioral health provider on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.