FROM JAIL TO JOB; PROGRAM AIDS INMATES' TRANSITION TO WORKING.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Anthony Cruz wore a bright orange jumpsuit to his job interview, his business attire unavailable until he gets released from jail next week.

But with earnest face and careful answers, Cruz did his best to sell himself to the job recruiter from Cal Western Paint Co., a Santa Fe manufacturer.

``I take direction very well,'' Cruz told recruiter Tom Holland. ``I'm an independent worker, I take pride in what I do.''

Thirteen companies, labor unions and other employers interviewed 29 minimum-security inmates last week at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic for the first job fair offered by the Los Angeles County jail system.

The program was conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District's Correctional Education Division, which teaches classes at county jails. The interviews were open to soon-to-be released inmates in the jail's vocational education program.

``One of the most important things we can do here is to teach them how to interview,'' Holland said. ``Sure, they're nervous. I tell them to breathe. I usually give this advice: Before you have an interview listen to calm music or do something else that relaxes you.''

Inmates were selected to participate if the crimes that put them in the county jail were minor, their sentences nearly complete and they have undergone vocational training, said Donald K. Carmack, director of correctional education.

Educators tried to match inmates with the most appropriate of the potential employers, including representatives of labor unions who offer job training.

``I don't care how they come to me, I'm here to educate people and get them working,'' said Donna Petterson, director of the apprenticeship program for the Tile and Marble Finishers Local No. 18. ``Right now, construction is really good, and most union members are employed now. There are jobs, and I view these applicants as potential workers.''

Prospective employers, inmates, instructors and sheriff's deputies worked throughout the day in a 1930s-era classroom building at the jail complex. The room was newly carpeted by a group of women inmates from a vocational program at the Twin Towers Correction Facility, who also made room dividers to give interviewers some privacy with their clients. A nursery class, also women from Twin Towers, added potted plants to the room to create an office-style atmosphere.

The jail-to-jobs effort is multipronged. Between interviews, inmates scanned a computer program of jobs listed by the state Employment Development Department and crafted resumes on-screen. Instructors stood by to guide the men through the computer maze.

James Valenzuela, nearing the end of a 90-day sentence on a drug conviction, clicked on the auto shop helper-driver file.

``I just want to get out and get a job, just work and not get into drugs again,'' said Valenzuela, who has an 8-year-old daughter.

Steven Shinn, scheduled to be released June 13 after eight months at Pitchess, viewed the exercise as an opportunity to practice his interviewing skills. His job in wastewater treatment is waiting for him, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared to job hunt, he said.

Don Kaltz sat in on the process, viewing himself as a mentor to his fellow inmates. Kaltz, 54, serving two months for an alcohol-related charge, has his lithography job waiting in Lancaster upon his July 10 release.

The Vietnam veteran stood back and watched younger men hunt for jobs, eager to work and start earning money again.

``This program is really good,'' Kaltz said. ``It keeps us busy; you learn real skills. And if all of this takes one person off the street, it has worked.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Corrections clerk Sylvia Shaw helps inmate James Valenzuela compose his resume during a job fair at the Pitchess Detention Center.

(2) Job interviewer Brook Powell and inmate Mitchell Castle discuss after-jail employment prospects.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News