Darlene Jackson is a fireball of an advocate. Just as she advocates fiercely - with heart, passion and determination - for the adolescents of SCO Family of Services, so has she advocated for her own career advancement at SCO. She leads by example.   Darlene Jackson first started with SCO Family of Services community residential programs ten years ago as a Quality Improvement Specialist, helping out the growing Quality Improvement Department with tracking the safety of SCO adolescents. She next became the Administrative Assistant to Program Director in the Department of Youth Development, where it seems the spark for a career path in serving adolescent youth may have taken hold. When a temporary Youth Development Advisor position became available in the summer of 2006. Darlene convinced the Assistant Executive Director that she was the best candidate for the job, despite the lack of required academic creditials at that time. 'Just try me out,' she said, 'I just want the chance to give youth the same opportunities others have given me as a young person.   She excelled in the position, bringing enviable energy and insight. She had a mission to directly interact with youth to prepare them for adulthood - helping them find employment and housing, getting all the necessary vital documentation in place, leading workshops to teach independent living skills, pushing them to enroll in and finish school, and teaching them to navigate in the community. Do you want to learn how to cut through bureaucratic red tape in a respectful but tenacious and effective way?   Ask Darlene Jackson! She recently joined the brand-new juvenile justice program, "Close-to-Home" formerly known as "Home Again" as a Case Manager; providing administrative support and program management for the start up and implementation of all eight juvenile justice C2H programs within SCO Family of Servces.   Darlene Jackson believes she has been extremely fortunate to have worked at SCO, to learn from her colleagues, and to be able to learn and teach the young people she has contact with.     Reference from Staff Recognition Dinner: In Appreciation of Staff Dedication and Commitment -Thursday, May 3, 2012.