Barnes Selected for COO

For Immediate Release
July 15, 2019

Peace River Center Names Candace Barnes as Next Chief Operating Officer

Bartow, FL – Peace River Center (PRC) is pleased to announce after an extensive executive search, Candace Barnes, LMHC CBHCMS-AC has been selected as the next Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Peace River Center effective July 8, 2019. Barnes predecessor Bennie Allred, MS announced his retirement earlier this year. Allred joined Peace River Center in 1984 and became COO in 2009.

In her new role, Barnes will oversee direct care operational programs, continue to improve the organization’s operational effectiveness and be involved in many aspects of the strategic plan implementation.

Most recently, Barnes was Senior Director of Clinical Services at Peace River Center providing oversight to 14 clinical programs and 130 clinical staff. She served as Chair of the PRC Clinical Services Committee, serves on the agency Quality Council, and has been an ongoing champion for clinical improvements and system enhancements to client care and professional staff development. Barnes has led many projects at PRC from their inception through deployment including recent work on the change in state reporting to FASAMS and development and implementation of PRC’s integrated care model used with external community partners. Prior to this position, Barnes was the Director of Outpatient Services responsible for managing a staff of 28 outpatient therapists across 10 locations in PRC’s three-county service area. In addition, she has also held the positions of Resiliency Team Leader, TBOS Therapist, School-Based Therapist, and Client Advocate/Coordinator for the Rape Recovery Program.

Barnes is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Southeastern University and a Master of Science in Counseling from Webster University. She also holds a Victim Services Practitioner Designation, is an Adoption Competent Therapist, a Qualified Supervisor for Registered Mental Health Counselor Interns, EMDR Trained, and is a Certified Case Management Supervisor for Adult and Child services.

Peace River Center

Peace River Center is a licensed and accredited, non-profit provider of mental health, substance use and integrated medical services serving Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties. Peace River Center provides options for people struggling with mental health and addiction, for children and adults coping with the trauma of abuse and violence, crisis intervention for people in acute need, and housing and community support and integration for people affected by domestic violence or whose recovery requires more support and time. Peace River Center offers inpatient, outpatient, home-, school- and community-based services, telehealth and mobile programs to individuals, groups, and families. Peace River Center’s dedicated and compassionate staff of more than 400 operate 36 programs out of 27 locations and provide 24/7 emergency psychiatric response services to the community through the mobile psychiatric Crisis Response Team. In FY2018, Peace River Center had contact with and provided services to more than 23,000 children, adolescents, adults, and seniors. For more information visit www.peacerivercenter.org.