Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Program Would Give Jobs to Young Offenders : Employment: A member of the sheriff’s anti-gang unit is asking local businesses to offer steady work to teen-agers to keep them off the streets.

John Hudson is trying to find a way to keep young offenders off the street--by putting them to work.

Hudson, a member of the anti-gang unit of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, is asking local businesses to offer jobs to teen-agers who are otherwise turning to crime out of boredom.

“It’s hard for anybody to get a job now,” said Hudson. “Especially for someone who has never had a job, or has had trouble getting a job.”

Hudson said dozens of Santa Clarita youths, ranging in age from 15 to 21, would benefit from having steady employment to keep them off the streets. Entry-level jobs would also give participants an opportunity to learn skills, making them more marketable in the future.

Hudson came up with the idea two weeks ago, when he busted a 15-year-old tagger who complained that he couldn’t find a job. Hudson said word of his program is just now circulating among businesses.

The program has the blessing of Santa Clarita’s Anti-Gang Task Force, which coordinates its efforts with the Sheriff’s Department.

“We (would like to) get them another avenue to channel their energies toward, rather than something destructive like vandalism,” said Kevin Tonoian, city administrative analyst who monitors calls into Santa Clarita’s volunteer graffiti removal hot line.

Graffiti incidents are believed to have trailed off in Santa Clarita over the past year. About 40 to 50 calls have come in monthly to the hot line since August, less than half those recorded during a similar five-month period in 1992.

Although Santa Clarita merchants have verbally supported the idea of hiring the at-risk youths, none has come through with job offers.

“Everybody thinks it’s a great idea, but they’re not beating down our door,” Hudson said.

Hudson admits that employers will be taking a small risk by hiring youths who have caused trouble in the past. But Hudson believes the offenders will mend their ways once given the opportunity of a job.

“Given that, you might end up with the best employee you ever had,” he said.

More information is available by contacting the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at (805) 255-1121.