Announcement, Press Release |
CHICAGO — Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Charles S. Beach II announced Wednesday two additions to the Juvenile Services leadership team, continuing to build out the systems-level expertise driving his transformation of Cook County's juvenile justice operations.
Domonique F. McCord, an executive leader with more than 15 years of experience driving community violence intervention and systems-change initiatives, has been appointed Chief of Staff to the Director of Juvenile Services. Mathew D. Lynch, an executive leader with more than 10 years of experience in juvenile justice, probation, reentry and behavioral health systems, has been appointed Assistant Director of Juvenile Services.
They join Director of Juvenile Services Sara Hemmeter, Superintendent Mack D. McGhee of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Melissa Spooner, rounding out the senior leadership team overseeing the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and Juvenile Probation Department.
McCord and Lynch bring extensive experience in community violence intervention, behavioral health, organizational transformation, juvenile probation reform, program evaluation and cross-system partnership building to their new roles.
“Every leader we bring onto this team shares the same conviction: that young people in our juvenile justice system deserve leaders who've done this work on the ground, not just studied it from a distance,” Chief Judge Beach said. “Domonique and Mathew bring the kind of hands-on systems experience this work demands. Together with Sara Hemmeter, Mack McGhee and Melissa Spooner, they round out a leadership team I'm confident can deliver real, lasting reform for Cook County's young people and families."
The appointments build on Judge Beach’s ongoing transformation of the court’s juvenile justice operations, following the recent appointments of Sara Hemmeter as Director of Juvenile Services, Mack D. McGhee as Superintendent of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and Melissa Spooner as Chief Juvenile Probation Officer.
Domonique F. McCord
Chief of Staff, Director of Juvenile Services
McCord brings more than 20 years of experience driving large-scale community violence intervention and systems-change initiatives that expand economic mobility and strengthen community resilience. She is recognized for guiding organizational growth, advancing public–private partnerships and executing mission-aligned strategies across complex human service ecosystems.
McCord currently serves as Chief Program Officer for Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) at Metropolitan Family Services, where she oversees a nearly $60 million integrated portfolio across 28 communities across Chicago. In this role, she provides strategic leadership to cross-functional teams and collaborates with 15 community-based partner organizations to advance coordinated programming in behavioral health, workforce development, reentry services, and community violence intervention.
She has strengthened organizational infrastructure, expanded program capacity and advanced trauma-informed, evidence-based models, including leading the integration of the READI Chicago gun violence intervention program and helping pioneer Illinois’s first Medicaid-billable, community-based behavioral health service for individuals experiencing chronic firearm violence exposure.
In addition to her executive role, McCord is the founder of DFM Wellness Alliance, LLC, a private behavioral health practice providing psychotherapy, clinical supervision and trauma-informed wellness services. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Trauma Professional with extensive experience supporting youth and adults through strengths-based, culturally responsive care.
McCord is a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California pursuing her Doctor of Social Work and a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. She earned a Master of Arts in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University.
Mathew D. Lynch
Assistant Director of Juvenile Services
Lynch brings more than 10 years of experience leading juvenile justice, probation, reentry and behavioral health initiatives across large public systems, including implementation of New York State’s Raise the Age legislation across New York City’s five boroughs.
Most recently, Lynch served as Director of Community Reentry – Statewide Operations for Treatment Alternatives for Stronger Communities (TASC) in Illinois, where he directed statewide correctional transition operations supporting more than 2,000 justice-involved individuals annually through a workforce of 70 professionals.
Previously, Lynch held senior leadership roles with the New York City Department of Probation, including Director of Programs & Evaluation and Director of Policy & Program Innovation within the Youth & Family Division, where he led department-wide juvenile justice reforms emphasizing diversion, restorative justice, positive youth development, trauma-informed practice and evidence-based supervision.
As Juvenile Implementation Manager for New York State’s Raise the Age legislation, Lynch managed a $7 million program portfolio expanding diversion, alternatives to incarceration and community-based supports. Over the course of his career, he has managed more than $20 million in public investments supporting juvenile probation, diversion, violence prevention, community-based programming and statewide reentry initiatives. Earlier in his career, Lynch served as a Research Associate and Research Analyst with the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, conducting mixed-methods evaluations of juvenile justice initiatives, restorative justice programs, mentoring models and community-based interventions.
Lynch is recognized for translating research into practice through evidence-based supervision, restorative approaches, continuous quality improvement and data-driven decision-making, and for building strategic partnerships among courts, probation, corrections,
behavioral health providers, schools, violence intervention organizations and community-based providers to implement large-scale system reform.
Lynch also helped guide probation operations and community service delivery through the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining continuity of care for youth and families and has advanced organizational transformation by expanding Credible Messenger practice and embedding restorative, equity-centered approaches into policy and practice.
He earned a Master of Science in Clinical, Agency and Mental Health Counseling from Duquesne University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Washington & Jefferson College.
McCord and Lynch will report to Director of Juvenile Services Sara Hemmeter as part of the department’s senior leadership team.
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