PRISON, COLLEGE UNITE FOR INMATE EDUCATION EFFORT SEEKS TO PROVIDE SKILLS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

CALIFORNIA CITY - The private prison in California City and the San Diego Community College District are teaming up to find ways to get illegal immigrant inmates employed once they are returned to Mexico.

The private Rockefeller Foundation, which funds programs aiding poor people around the world, provided $50,000 to look at inmates' education and skills, the employment opportunities available to them in their homelands, and what training would be needed to get them into those jobs.

``A number of inmates come from the same communities,'' said college district spokesman Barry Garron. ``We'll look at the employment needs in those communities.''

The effort is an exploratory one, looking at how such a training system could be created. Once that is determined, future grants would likely be needed to implement training programs, Garron said.

``It's a nice idea. If it works, it will benefit both countries,'' Garron said.

At first glance, the partnership between a coastal community's college district and a High Desert prison seems odd, but the effort fits within both institution's philosophies.

Under the direction of California City Correctional Center warden Percy Pitzer, the prison has made education a priority in hopes of reducing recidivism, and the college district has 20 years of involvement with technical training programs in Mexico.

Under contract to the U.S. government, the prison holds immigrants - both legal and illegal - who have committed crimes in the United States and are due for deportation because of it.

Of the prison's 2,623 inmates, about 95 percent were born in Mexico. All are serving sentences of less than five years and all will be deported following the completion of their sentences.

``The recidivism rate is tremendously high,'' Pitzer said. ``Eighty percent to 90 percent are going to illegally re-enter the U.S.''

To address the problem, the prison is making education and job-training partnerships a priority.

``We want to educate them, get them drug-free and get them jobs in Mexico,'' Pitzer said. ``If you take a prisoner and keep him for two, three, or four years and don't do something with him you can expect that he will return.''

The prison's education programs include offering Mexican primary and secondary education, English as a second language courses, and offering LifeQuest, a 500-hour classroom program aimed at addressing criminal behavior, anger management and substance abuse.

The prison is also working with the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce to try to attract private industry to come to the prison and set up training programs.