PRIDE in Corrections: The winners of the PRIDE Awards 2006 with Chief Executive Barry Matthews.
Left to right: Leanne Forward, Graham Booth, Sr Teresa Donworth, Phil Cullen, Barry Matthews,
Telisa Jacobson, David Sarich and Chas Thompson.
The seven winners of Corrections’ 2006 PRIDE Chief Executive’s Award are exceptional staff who have risen above the challenges of their roles to set high standards of excellence and effectiveness.
"They are role models to everyone in the Department,” said Chief Executive Barry Matthews, speaking at the Awards ceremony on 29 March.
"Your high standards help create an environment in which we can all develop our skills to the benefit of the wider organisation," he said.
Two of the Award winners, from Napier Community Probation Service, are Service Manager Graham Booth and Probation Officer Leanne Forward. They won their Award jointly for their imaginative and effective placements of offenders on Community Work. The Napier Community Work Centre is consistently among the three top-performing service centres in the country, and Graham and Leanne also help other Community Probation Services to be more effective.
Graham, Leanne and their team are constantly on the hunt for local groups who may need a helping hand from offenders doing community work sentences.
"We’re very proactive. For example, we look through the local papers to see if any groups need help. We have offenders doing maintenance work for marae, kindergartens, kohanga reo and people with intellectual disabilities," says Graham.
He adds that the hardest challenge is placing offenders who have mental health problems.
"But we always find somewhere for everyone. At any one time we have between 280 and 300 offenders on our books in Napier - but we would have work for up to 500."
Graham is quick to acknowledge the work done by the rest of the team in Napier.
"The work Leanne and I are being recognised for is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s a real team effort," he says.
Richard Harrison, who won an Award last year and was on this year’s judging panel, says that this year’s winners are people who give 110 percent to their jobs.
"The others on the short-list are all great - they give 105 percent, but the winners give just a little bit extra," he says.
The PRIDE Chief Executive Awards were established in 2005 to celebrate outstanding achievements and take their name from the core values that guide Corrections: professionalism; responsivenes; integrity; diversity; and efficiency and effectiveness.
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