Peter Palanca
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Peter Palanca is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC, Inc.) a statewide, nonprofit agency in Illinois that advocates for alternatives to incarceration and community reentry services for people with substance use and mental health disorders. TASC provides clinical case management services for approximately 20,000 adults and youth annually who are referred and/or mandated to TASC by criminal justice, child welfare, and other public systems.
Mr. Palanca oversees TASC’s statewide service delivery as well as strategic planning, training, and revenue development. Current chairman of the board of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association (IADDA), Mr. Palanca also is one of 12 individuals appointed to the Children's Mental Health Partnership, the policy guiding group for children's mental health issues in Illinois. He is an active member of the board of directors of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics and a member of both the board of directors and advisory board of Prevention Partnership, a non-profit prevention and health promotion agency located in Chicago.
A lifelong teacher and mentor to many, Mr. Palanca serves as the chairman of the advisory board of the Governors State University Addictions Studies and Behavioral Health Department and holds a faculty appointment as senior lecturer of Addiction Studies in the College of Health and Human Services.
Prior to joining TASC in 2003, Mr. Palanca had established his career in the field of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery, serving as executive director and regional vice president with Hazelden Foundation in Chicago, executive director with Parkside Behavioral Health Services in Chicago, and deputy director of the Illinois Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. He developed and led adolescent behavioral healthcare programs at South Suburban Council on Alcoholism, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, and Lutheran Center for Substance Abuse. He also began the Region II Operation Snowball, a youth and adult partnership that provides awareness and prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.
Mr. Palanca earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
