Welcome

On behalf of the National TASC Board of Directors and the Conference Committee, it is our pleasure to welcome you to the 17th National TASC Conference on Drugs and Crime! We are excited to have this conference take place in downtown Denver, Colorado where the TASC model has experienced significant positive changes in the last several years. We would like to extend a special welcome to those attendees who have attended the Offender Reentry Program Meeting held prior to this conference.

Our ongoing relationship with local, state and Federal partners is a strong example of the manner in which TASC consistently strives to reach new heights – thus our confer-ence theme, Reaching New Heights: Cooperation, Collaboration, and Continuation. We are indebted to our partners at SAMHSA and CSAT for their continued and generous support of this conference, in particular the team of agency professionals from around the country who participated in the planning of this agenda and offered thoughtful sug-gestions which have been incorporated. This is also true for our on-going partnership with NIDA. The conference planning committee as a whole is to be commended for the hard work they put into the various tracks and sessions that comprise our agenda, as are each of the chairs of the separate tracks who helped coordinate the various workshops and all day institutes. Thanks also to the members of our Colorado TASC Programs– Western, Southeast, Northeast and Mile High staff. Their assistance in securing speak-ers, providing input for workshop content, arranging logistics and registration was inval-uable.

The conference offers a comprehensive overview of current evidence based practices, emerging trends and existing programs offered nationwide. It also offers an excellent platform to honor important individuals who have been involved in the field on both na-tional and state levels. It is our hope that you leave this conference inspired, motivated, and armed with new information that you can take back to your work. Please take this opportunity to network with other attendees, to share what it is you are doing at home, and to find out what is happening around the country. This is an exciting time for those of us that work in the corrections and behavioral health arenas and we sincerely feel this conference exemplifies the mission and purpose of National TASC and its members. En-joy the conference and know that your participation here is very important to us! David Wills, National TASC President Executive Director, Stark County TASC, Inc. Melissa Ippolito, Conference Chair Colorado TASC Director, Peer Assistance Services, Inc.

David Wills,
National TASC President Executive Director, Stark County TASC, Inc.

Melissa Ippolito,
Conference Chair Colorado TASC Director, Peer Assistance Services, Inc.