Melody M. Heaps founded TASC (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities) in 1976 and led the NGO to become a nationally recognized agency before she retired as president in 2009. Under Ms. Heaps’ leadership, TASC grew from a small pilot program in Cook County, Illinois, to a 20 million dollar, statewide organization providing treatment alternatives to incarceration services in the criminal justice system to 20,000 individuals annually. She is currently providing consulting services on public policy related to public health and addiction in the United States and internationally. Currently, Ms. Heaps is the Chair of the International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP) and on the Board of the International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR). A graduate of Northwestern University, Ms. Heaps received the university’s prestigious Service to Society award in 1995. She has co-written a number of published articles, including Recovery-Oriented Care for Drug-Abusing Offenders in 2009, Toward a Recovery-Oriented System of Care Within the Criminal Justice System in 2008, Toward a Rational Drug Policy: Setting New Priorities in 1994, and Making the Connection: Substance Abuse and the Use of Intermediate Punishments in 1992. She is also the President of MMH and Associates.
