LOS ANGELES COUNTY - To reduce racial and gang-motivated jail violence, the Board of Supervisors extended an agreement with the Amer-I-Can Foundation to continue disturbance mediation training classes to jail inmates, according to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

Funded by the Inmate Welfare Fund, the 12-month, $300,000 contract will primarily target male inmates housed at the Sheriff's Department's North County Correctional facility in Castaic.

The Sheriff's Department houses an average of 18,251 inmates on a daily basis, 3,852 of whom are housed at the North County facility.

The average length of stay for inmates in the county jail system is 54.3 days.

Approximately 150,763 male inmates enter and leave the county's jails on an annual basis.

Los Angeles County provides funding for educational classes, alcohol and drug prevention, life skill programs, and other services to help inmates who have completed their sentences successfully re-enter society, reducing the possibility of recidivism.