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Assistant Commissioner, Queens Adult Services, Department of Probation.
"She makes one of the most difficult jobs look effortless. She never stops working for our clients."
Karen Armstrong, who joined the department in 1989 as a probation office trainee, now leads a team of 140 who are responsible for 8,000 New Yorkers on probation in Queens. Her ability to implement new programs is unmatched. Prior to assuming her current position, Armstrong held the same job in Brooklyn, where she started three model NEON programs that connected probation clients to community organizations, government agencies, local businesses and residents. These efforts were so effective that when Armstrong left, Brooklyn led the city in the number of clients who achieved early release from parole for model behavior. Says a colleague, "She makes one of the most difficult jobs look effortless. She never stops working for our clients."
