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COOK COUNTY COMMISSION ON
SOCIAL INNOVATION
Pamela F. Rodriguez
A leader in advocating for people involved in criminal justice, public health, and child welfare systems, Pam Rodriguez has served as TASC’s president and CEO since 2009. TASC is a statewide, nonprofit organization in Illinois that serves nearly 30,000 people annually in justice, health, and child welfare systems. Pam also directs TASC’s Center for Health and Justice, which offers public policy and consulting services nationally and internationally.
Pam was honored by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2014 for her leadership in advancing system-wide justice interventions for people with substance use disorders. She was appointed in 2007 to serve as a practitioner member of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, an independent organization in the U.S. executive branch that coordinates all federal juvenile delinquency prevention and detention programs.
In Illinois, Pam is active on numerous boards and task forces focused on increasing alternatives to incarceration, improving juvenile justice, and decreasing the disproportionate incarceration of people of color. She was appointed by the Governor in 2015 to serve on the Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform. Pam also serves on the oversight board of Redeploy Illinois, which supports community-based alternatives to incarceration for youth; the Illinois Juvenile Justice Leadership Council; and the Illinois Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice, of which she is the vice chair of the advisory board. In addition, she was appointed to serve on the Illinois Human Services Commission in 2013, on the advisory council for the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (DASA), and on the Cook County Commission on Social Innovation.
Recognized as an expert in connecting research to clinical practice, Pam has co-authored several journal articles on healthcare, criminal justice, and juvenile justice, including articles for Community Oriented Correctional Health Services (2011), Reclaiming Children and Youth (2010), and Addiction Science and Clinical Practice (2009). She served as co-author and guest co-editor of a special issue on criminal justice reform for the Prison Journal (2011), published a chapter on case management in the Handbook of Evidence-Based Substance Abuse Treatment (2011), and has led the development of several reports for the Center for Health and Justice at TASC, including No Entry: A National Survey of Criminal Justice Diversion Programs and Initiatives (2014).
Pam earned her MA from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She began her career at TASC in 1982 as a grant writer, and was promoted successively to direct nearly every aspect of the agency before becoming the agency’s president. In 2012, she was honored as an outstanding alumna of her undergraduate alma mater, Bemidji State University.
Cook County Commission on
Social Innovation
118 N. Clark, RM 567
c/0 District 7
Chicago, IL 60602
312-603-5443