Members & guests – free. Online RSVP for this program has ended; to join please contact the Village office at 773.248.8700.

Join the Village Men’s Group and annual sponsor Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park for a chance to hear from a representative from the Cook County Sherriff’s office. Topics will include:

• Overcrowding in Cook County Jail
• Mental health in the criminal justice system
• Violence reduction.  Strategies that Sheriff Dart is working on to reduce violence and increase public safety
• Rehabilitation and reentry
• Opioid Crisis
• Impact of no-cash bail on levels of crime

About our speaker:

Elli Petacque Montgomery has been a licensed clinical social worker for over 20 years and is currently assigned to serve as the Director of the Office of Mental Health Advocacy and Treatment Response Team Programs for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Ms. Montgomery was hired in 2008 by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office as the first mental health advocate to work with individuals with mental illness in the Cook County Department of Corrections. In 2019, she began directing the Sheriff’s Police Treatment Response Team Program (TRT), an overdose prevention program that includes aggressive street outreach to areas impacted by high incidences of overdoses and open drug markets. TRT also provides post incident follow up for individuals and their loved ones impacted by addiction and mental illness. In 2020, Elli began directing the Sheriff’s Co-Responder Virtual Assistance Program (CVAP) for police responding to 911 service calls involving individuals experiencing mental distress in need of an immediate connection to a mental health professional. In 2022 and 2023, Elli was nominated by the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit to train in Quantico, VA on threat assessment in efforts to prevent mass targeted attacks of violence. Her passion remains to advocate and serve the mentally ill population and bring education to larger local, State and Federal Government entities to change the criminalization and stigma of those that suffer from mental illness.

Parking and refreshments provided by our generous host and sponsor, Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park.