Youth development officer provides ‘fascinating’ insight into her ‘successful’ prison program

Youth development officer Anne Hooker has provided a fascinating insight into her “very successful” program at Port Phillip Prison, with Sly of the Underworld describing her as an “expert” in the field.

Ms Hooker worked as a prison officer for Corrections Victoria for 13 years and Port Phillip Prison for a further 23 years. From 2005, she was the supervisor of the Penhyn Unit for male offenders aged 18 to 25.

And she’s shed light on the very low recidivism rate on the prisoners from her program, which is “really unheard of” in youth crime.

Press PLAY to hear her fascinating insight on the timely topic of youth crime 

“It was a very successful and a very good program … it was very different to the rest of prison,” Ms Hooker said on 3AW Breakfast.

“One of the things about my unit was they were safe, they felt safe.”

Image: 3AW