Lifers Hope Foundation
"Liberate Not Incarcerate. Build Homes Not Prisons".
From Incarceration to Integration
A Movement for Criminal and Socioeconomic Justice
The Lifers Hope Integration Model
"Liberate Not Incarcerate. Build Homes Not Prisons".
A Public Health Ecosystem for Redemption and Systemic Justice
Our model fundamentally reimagines incarceration—not merely as punishment, but as a structured, four-phase opportunity for profound rehabilitation, community reintegration, and systemic change. This is achieved through an evidence-informed continuum that directly confronts the social determinants of health and justice, proactively dismantling the root causes of criminalization, such as structural racism, entrenched poverty, and historical lack of opportunity. We guide individuals from incarceration to employability, financial stability, and eventual homeownership, thereby addressing the public health crises of mass incarceration, unemployment, housing instability, and persistent socioeconomic injustice.
We replace punitive systems with restorative partnerships, fostering critical skills, a renewed sense of self-worth, and a pathway to collective liberation. Our framework is built upon seven core workforce development tracks, each meticulously designed to integrate hands-on vocational training with essential mental health support, trauma-informed recovery programs, and community-based rehabilitation resources. These tracks are not just about individual uplift; they are powerful levers to address systemic inequities, create healthier communities, and interrupt cycles of generational trauma.
Modular Home Construction
Hands-on training in building affordable, sustainable housing from the ground up, directly combating housing instability and creating pathways to homeownership, building equity, and community revitalization.
Solar & Renewable Energy
Installation and maintenance of solar systems, fostering energy independence, addressing environmental justice disparities, and providing access to high-demand green economy skills that build generational wealth.
Rainwater & Regenerative Farming
Sustainable agriculture practices and water conservation systems, promoting food security, combating food deserts in underserved communities, and fostering ecological stewardship.
CDL & Logistics Training
Commercial driving licenses and supply chain management certification, opening pathways to critical transportation careers that strengthen economic resilience and provide living wages.
Diesel Mechanics
Vehicle maintenance and repair skills for high-demand careers, ensuring mobility, essential service provision, and creating stable, high-paying jobs that reduce economic precarity.
Warehouse Management
Operations and inventory control for the logistics industry, streamlining commerce, enhancing organizational efficiency, and providing upwardly mobile career paths in a vital sector.
Financial Empowerment
Credit building, savings programs, and trust-fund development, securing long-term stability, building intergenerational wealth, and fostering true economic independence.

Every track systematically integrates behavioral health support, trauma-informed care, and mentorship. Healing the person is as important as teaching the skill, ensuring a holistic transformation that breaks cycles of injustice and contributes to overall public health. This is how we turn incarceration into innovation.
Phase 1: Preventing Incarceration – The Youth Justice Pilot Program
A Collaborative Ecosystem with ARC & University Gardens
20
Justice-Impacted Youth
Young people ready for transformation
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Credible Mentors
Experienced guides with wisdom to share
Where Prevention Meets Opportunity
This pilot program, a systemic collaboration with ARC and University Gardens, is designed to redirect justice-impacted youth from the criminal justice pipeline towards pathways of opportunity and community empowerment. We pair these young individuals with credible messengers—formerly incarcerated mentors who embody resilience and transformation, sharing their wisdom and lived experience.
Together, they engage in a systematically integrated approach across three pathways:
  • Vocational Training: Hands-on skills in modular housing construction, solar panel assembly, and regenerative farming.
  • Therapeutic Recovery: Trauma-informed therapy, mental health support, and recovery programs.
  • Civic Engagement: Financial literacy education, trust-fund stipends to build credit and savings, and community involvement.
This holistic framework ensures that prevention meets opportunity, and mentorship becomes the soil for profound transformation.
This systematic partnership model is designed for seamless replication across schools, reentry programs, and justice systems statewide. By connecting the energy of youth with the wisdom of experienced mentors, we cultivate a cycle of healing that actively breaks generational patterns of incarceration. Once validated, this Phase 1 program will serve as the foundational blueprint for our expansive Phase 2: Freedom Villages.
Phase 2: Freedom Villages
From Prevention to Implementation: Self-Sustaining Regenerative Communities
Affordable Housing
Modular homes built by program graduates, providing stable housing solutions.
Renewable Energy
Solar power systems and rainwater capture ensure energy independence.
Food Security
Regenerative farms produce local nutrition, fostering food security.
Economic Stability
Financial empowerment, employment, and homeownership pathways are provided.
Building on the success of our youth pilot program, Phase 2 marks a pivotal shift from prevention to active implementation. Freedom Villages represent the physical manifestation of our vision—self-sustaining, regenerative communities constructed and maintained by program graduates. Each village integrates modular housing, renewable energy, rainwater capture systems, and regenerative agriculture, collectively creating food security, employment, and housing stability for justice-impacted individuals and their families.
Imagine: communities where redemption becomes architecture. Where those who were once incarcerated now own the homes they built with their own hands. Where every solar panel represents energy independence, and every garden signifies food sovereignty.
Beyond physical structures, Freedom Villages embody restorative justice principles. They reconnect residents to purpose, community, and environmental stewardship, demonstrating that social reintegration can be designed as a circular economy, where rehabilitation produces both social and economic value. Graduates of Phase 1—both youth and lifers—become the builders and residents of these villages, creating not just housing, but home. Not just neighborhoods, but belonging.
Phase 3: Strategic Expansion of Fire Camp Training Centers
Transforming CDCR Fire Camps into Lifers Hope Integration Model Hubs
Building on the successful blueprint of Freedom Villages from Phase 2, this phase outlines the strategic expansion of existing CDCR Fire Camps into comprehensive, certified training and production centers. These centers will operate entirely under the Lifers Hope Integration Model, bridging the gap between incarceration and reintegration through enterprise and education.
Our approach targets minimal-risk incarcerated individuals, eager to acquire real-time skills aligned with California's pressing labor demands. This initiative emphasizes robust partnerships with NABTU MC3 Pre-Apprenticeship programs and statewide trade unions, ensuring industry-recognized certifications and clear pathways to employment.
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Comprehensive Certified Training
Participants receive hands-on, union apprenticeship-certified training across seven core tracks, preparing them for high-demand careers:
  • Modular Construction
  • Solar Systems Installation
  • Regenerative Farming
  • Logistics & Supply Chain
  • Heavy Equipment Operation & Mechanics
  • Advanced Manufacturing & Warehouse Operations
  • Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship
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Rehabilitation Through Enterprise
This model fundamentally transforms custody time into human capital. Participants actively contribute to economic development, including building Freedom Village homes, while acquiring tangible skills. This fosters a sense of purpose and productivity.
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Trust Fund Accumulation & Portable Credentials
Beyond skills, participants earn valuable union apprenticeship certificates, accrue significant trust-fund savings, and gain transferable work experience. These credentials and savings transition directly with them upon release, securing their financial independence and career progression.
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Confinement Becomes Contribution
Lifers Hope centers demonstrate a powerful model where confinement is reimagined as a period of profound personal and societal contribution. Graduates will not only secure employment but also take pride in their direct role in constructing the very communities they will return to.
Phase 4: LHF Workforce and Economic Development Centers
Downsizing Prisons into Economic Hubs – The Completion of the LHF Integration Model
Phase 4 represents the systematic fulfillment of our vision: the comprehensive transformation of existing CDCR prison facilities into vibrant workforce development centers and economic hubs. This phase completes the LHF Integration Model, systematically shifting from incarceration to integration by converting prisons from cost centers into workforce engines that rebuild communities.
This systematic integration model will unfold through several key components:
  • **Prison Transformation:** Existing correctional facilities will be systematically downsized and converted into prison-based hubs that merge education, production, and trade certification, aligning perfectly with the LHF Integration Model.
  • **Union Partnership & Accredited Training:** We will deepen our collaboration with the NABTU MC3 Pre-Apprenticeship Program and statewide unions, establishing accredited training facilities within these hubs. This guarantees industry-standard certification and, crucially, guaranteed job placement upon release.
  • **Lifer Leadership & Mentorship:** Participants, particularly lifers, will earn union credentials while serving as trainers and mentors. They will teach vital skills across all seven comprehensive tracks: modular construction, renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, warehouse management, commercial driving, and financial literacy.
  • **Economic Freedom & Outcomes:** Graduates will parole with certified trade credentials, established trust funds, healthy savings accounts, and established credit, fostering true economic freedom and stability.
  • **Systematic Transition to Freedom Villages:** A clear, systematic transition process will see participants move directly into Freedom Villages and the very homes they helped build during their training, completing the reintegration cycle.
Measurable Goals
Public Health & Social Impact
We will not just deal in aspirations here. The Lifers Hope Integration Model is designed to deliver truly transformational outcomes rooted in public health and socioeconomic justice frameworks, benefiting individuals, communities, and society. What you see below will not merely be goals—these are concrete, measurable commitments to advance health equity and address social determinants of health, grounded in evidence-based public health principles and supported by a rigorous evaluation framework.
60%
Recidivism Reduction
Significantly lowering re-offending rates improves public safety and represents a critical public health outcome, reducing chronic stress and improving overall well-being.
80%
Employment Retention
Ensuring sustained, living-wage employment is a key social determinant of health, providing financial stability, access to healthcare, and reduced health disparities.
85%
Family Reunification
Successful reunification fosters mental health, stability for children, and strengthens community fabric, directly addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intergenerational trauma.
75%
Community Cohesion
Promoting active civic engagement and strong social ties strengthens community resilience, enhances public safety, and improves collective health outcomes for historically marginalized neighborhoods.
70%
Credit & Savings
Empowering participants with financial literacy and asset-building capacity directly counters systemic economic inequalities and enhances long-term health, reducing financial stress and chronic disease risk.
30%
Homeownership
Achieving stable homeownership addresses a fundamental social determinant of health, providing security, wealth-building opportunities, and improved physical/mental health environments, crucial for breaking cycles of poverty.
Public Health Investment & Cost Efficiency
Now, let’s look at the economics through a public health lens. Right now, in California, we spend an astonishing $132,000 per year for every incarcerated person. That is the cost of warehousing people, which perpetuates cycles of poor health and injustice. Our model, the Lifers Hope Integration Model, will operate at just a fraction of that—approximately $33,000 per participant. That means our system will operate at one-quarter the cost of traditional incarceration, while delivering outcomes that truly transform lives. This represents a massive return on public health investment: we will gain skilled workers, homeowners, and tax-paying citizens who contribute to community health and well-being, instead of perpetual costs associated with chronic illness, unemployment, and re-incarceration.
Addressing Systemic Injustice & Building Futures
This will bring us to the core of our philosophy. Our work will be so much more than just reducing recidivism; it's about dismantling structural barriers and systemic inequalities. We will not just reduce recidivism—we will build futures. We will not just provide training—we will restore dignity. And we will not simply be looking to save money—we will be fundamentally working to save lives by addressing root causes of health inequities and criminal justice involvement.
We will change the narrative: We will liberate, not incarcerate. We will build homes, not prisons, and foster communities of health and opportunity, not despair and disparity.
Systematic Evaluation & Replicability for Health Equity
Our commitment extends beyond achieving these immediate goals; we are establishing the Lifers Hope Integration Model as an evidence-based intervention, rigorously evaluated for policy replication across states. We embrace the Grand Challenge of Smart Decarceration by demonstrating a pathway to reduce incarceration rates while enhancing public safety and individual well-being, and crucially, advancing health equity.
To ensure robust assessment, we employ a mixed-methods evaluation framework. This includes quantitative analysis of key outcomes like job placement rates, housing stability, and financial metrics, all viewed through a lens of their impact on health disparities and socioeconomic mobility. Complementing this, qualitative interviews will gather rich insights into the lived experiences of participants, their families, and community stakeholders, assessing social impact, family reunification, and community cohesion as direct measures of improved public health and social justice.
Our evaluation process is strengthened by a strategic partnership with USC's research faculty, providing academic rigor and independent validation to ensure our findings on health equity outcomes are credible and can inform broader policy change.
Ultimately, this model aims to revitalize economically distressed neighborhoods through sustainable development by fostering civic engagement, reducing health disparities, and empowering individuals to contribute meaningfully to their communities as active agents of their own health and socioeconomic justice. By proving the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of our approach as a public health investment, we aspire to scale the Lifers Hope Integration Model as a national standard.
Freedom Village: Social Return on Investment (SROI) Framework
Transforming Urban Land into Regenerative Communities
*Note: All financial figures and returns are preliminary projections based on market research and industry standards. Actual costs and returns will be refined through detailed feasibility studies and pilot implementation.*
Investment Overview
Location: Inner Los Angeles (10,000 sq. ft. infill lot)
Purpose: Transform vacant urban land into regenerative "Freedom Village" integrating housing, workforce training, renewable energy, and food systems
Investment Breakdown (Total: $6.7M)
Annual Returns ($197K/year)
$22K
Utility Savings
$25K
Produce Sales/CSA Revenue
$150K
Training Value/Job Creation
Value Creation
$8.0M
Appraised Value at Completion
$1.3M
Initial Paper Gain
~3%
Social Yield (annually before appreciation)
Intangible Benefits
Cultural healing & recovery programs
Education partnerships with USC
Public health impact through improved nutrition and mental health
Environmental quality improvement in urban core
Every dollar builds—not only structures, but lives, knowledge, and ecosystems that heal.
Call to Collective Impact
Forging a Multi-Sector Collaborative Ecosystem for Public Health and Socioeconomic Justice
The Lifers Hope Foundation extends an invitation to the USC Schools of Public Health and Social Work to co-lead the development of a statewide reentry reform model. This initiative aims to establish a systematic collaborative ecosystem designed to transform lives, communities, and systems through a human-potential-centered approach, fundamentally addressing critical public health challenges and advancing socioeconomic justice.
Our vision is built on three interconnected pillars, fostering a feedback loop where community practice informs academic research, and research drives scalable, evidence-based reform that promotes health equity.
Pillar 1: Research & Evaluation for Structural Reform & Health Equity
We seek your unparalleled expertise in Research Validation. This involves conducting rigorous mixed-methods evaluations of our outcomes, measuring cost-effectiveness, and assessing scalability. This critical data will elevate our model from anecdotal success to evidence-based policy, demonstrating how structural reform rooted in human potential can advance evidence-based decarceration and sustainable reintegration, ultimately improving public health outcomes and reducing health disparities. Your academic rigor will ensure the creation of vital feedback loops: practice informs research, and research drives scalable, systemic change that addresses structural determinants of health and criminal justice involvement.
Pillar 2: Strategic Policy Alignment & Advocacy for Socioeconomic Justice
We will ensure Policy Alignment, integrating our model seamlessly with existing state and federal criminal justice reform initiatives. By combining our practical community insights with your policy expertise, we will truly create lasting systemic change that dismantles systemic inequalities and promotes health equity. This pillar will actively engage with key partners such as the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), the North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU), and the Multi-Craft Core Cuatiorriculum (MC3) Program to inform policy advocacy that supports viable career pathways, community integration, and the creation of healthier, more equitable communities.
Pillar 3: Integrated Implementation Partnership for Community Health
Finally, we seek an Implementation Partnership grounded in direct, boots-on-the-ground collaboration. This pillar is dedicated to executing new pilot programs and expanding our proven models, framed as a public health intervention that addresses root causes of mass incarceration. Working directly with organizations like ARC and others, we will combine academic insight with invaluable community expertise to facilitate effective program delivery and create tangible opportunities for returning citizens, thereby building healthier and more equitable communities from the ground up.
Building a new paradigm: practice, policy, potential for public health and justice
Together, we will transform recovery into economic opportunity, and replace the costs of incarceration with the dividends of liberation and human flourishing, contributing to a robust public health infrastructure and genuine socioeconomic justice.
This will be more than a program. This will be a movement. A calling. An opportunity to rewrite the story of justice in America—from punishment to purpose, from despair to dignity, from incarceration to integration, all driven by a profound commitment to public health and social well-being.
Join us. Partner with us. Build this future with us.
With gratitude and conviction,
Arthur Agustin, Founder, Lifers Hope Foundation
Implementation Framework: Addressing Key Operational Pillars
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Implementation Details / Pilot Logistics
Youth Justice Pilot Program (Phase 1) as collaborative initiative between LHF, ARC, and University Gardens
  • 12-month program serving 20 participants ages 18-25 in Los Angeles County
  • Months 1-3: Foundation phase (assessment, basic skills, team building)
  • Months 4-6: Skill development phase (core track training begins)
  • Months 7-9: Application phase (hands-on projects, mentorship intensifies)
  • Months 10-12: Integration phase (job placement, community reintegration, graduation)
  • Core tracks: Modular Housing, Solar Energy, Regenerative Farming
  • Partners: ARC (implementation), University Gardens (behavioral health), LHF (coordination)
  • Seed funding through university grants, county grants, and philanthropic donations
Compensation & Career Progression:
  • Year 1 (Training): Participants earn $500/week stipends while training as pre-apprentices
  • Year 2 (Mentor 1): Graduates become Mentor 1 earning $18-22 per hour
  • Year 3 (Mentor 2): Advanced to Mentor 2 earning $25-30 per hour
  • Year 4+ (Lead Mentor/Supervisor): Pathway to journeyman-equivalent leadership roles earning $35+ per hour
This creates a clear economic incentive and career ladder that demonstrates long-term commitment to participant success and financial stability.
*Note: All compensation figures are preliminary projections based on industry standards and will be refined through pilot implementation and funding availability.
Each One Teach One Philosophy:
The program operates on the foundational principle of "Each One Teach One" - where every participant who advances becomes a mentor and teacher for incoming cohorts. This creates:
  • Sustainable knowledge transfer and skill development
  • Peer-to-peer mentorship that builds community and accountability
  • Leadership development opportunities at every level
  • A self-reinforcing cycle of transformation and empowerment
  • Cultural continuity that honors the wisdom of lived experience
This approach ensures that program graduates remain connected to the community while developing teaching and leadership skills that enhance their career prospects.
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Evidence & Evaluation Methods
  • Pre- and post-assessments measuring behavioral health, employment readiness, self-efficacy
  • USC Keck and Dworak-Peck students assist with CBPR data collection
  • Sample metrics: Depression/anxiety reduction (PHQ-9, GAD-7), employment increases, recidivism rates, community connectedness
  • Data partners: USC Keck Community Health Equity Lab, USC School of Social Work Evaluation Unit, ARC outcomes tracking
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Risk Management & Feasibility
  • Institutional buy-in: Start with community-based pilot sites before CDCR integration
  • Funding delays: Diversify through university grants, private philanthropy, union partnerships
  • Regulatory barriers: Partner with established reentry agencies (ARC, Amity)
  • Participant attrition: Integrate peer-mentor support and wraparound clinical care
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Legal, Regulatory, & Institutional Architecture
  • LHF Foundation as umbrella nonprofit and IP holder
  • Formal MOUs with partner organizations
  • CDCR expansion through approved service providers (ARC, Amity)
  • University partnership with USC for joint evaluation and research arm
  • IRB oversight and data ethics protocols

These four pillars transform our vision into a fully fundable, research-backed pilot that meets USC's standards for community-based participatory research and public-health practice.
Prototype Pilot Program Coming Soon
We are thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of the Youth Justice Pilot Program, a transformative initiative designed to empower young adults in Los Angeles County.
This 12-month program will serve 20 participants aged 18-25, developed in collaborative partnership with ARC and University Gardens. The program focuses on providing vocational training and mentorship in vital, sustainable industries:
Modular Housing
Skills in sustainable construction and rapid housing solutions.
Solar Energy
Training in installation, maintenance, and renewable energy systems.
Regenerative Farming
Expertise in ecological food production and land stewardship.
Interested participants and community partners are invited to learn more and get involved as we prepare to redefine pathways to success. Contact us to be part of this groundbreaking journey.