LOS ANGELES — Laces are tied, and minds are focused as the kids part of the mentor based Life Builders program in Pasadena begin their football training. 

What You Need To Know

  • Life Builders program offers mentorship and counseling to underserved youth to keep them from entering the justice system 

  • In California, 41% of incarcerated people are rearrested within three years of their release 

  • Measure J, passed by voters in 2020, looks to address incarceration rates by investing in community-based programs such as Life Builders

  • These investments include youth development programs, job training, supportive housing and alternatives to incarceration

For these participants, a new playbook is unfolding, one that is as much about scoring as it is about building a future.

“They make sure I get my work done. They want me to have a certain GPA. They want me to stay at a high standard because they know I have the potential to be something,” said 14-year-old Anthony Alzaga who has participated in this program since he was 5 years old. 

Coach Jason Betts started the Life Builders program over 20 years ago to provide tutoring for the kids in his football organization. 

“The light bulb came on when I noticed kids struggling with their grades, not because they weren’t smart, just they didn’t get the attention and the support that they needed,” Betts said. 

Now the program goes beyond school support and football training as he says they offer participants family counseling, employment readiness and a lifelong mentorship with the coaches. 

It’s that all encompassing approach that has allowed him to get funding from the LA County through Measure J. 

In a shift away from traditional justice approaches, in 2020 Los Angeles voters approved Measure J, which through the Los Angeles County Care First & Community Investment Advisory Committee allocates county funds to help address the disproportionate impacts of racial injustice.

These investments include youth development programs, job training, supportive housing and alternatives to incarceration. 

“The data that’s that we’ve seen shows that if you can reach them between that age, the likelihood of them being incarcerated in the juvenile justice system is lower than someone who doesn’t have that positive support,” Betts said. 

That early intervention is what Megan Castillo, a coalition member for Re-Imagine LA and member of the CFCI advisory committee, says is key to this work. 

“They’re making sure that they’re reaching our young people. And for us, that is prevention work, right preventing our young people from falling through the cracks and making sure that they have the resources they need to achieve from the beginning,” Castillo said. 

She says this work results from years of advocacy from organizers in Los Angeles County. 

“We’ve seen a lot of small nonprofit organizations who have benefited from this funding stream. Thus far, although, we have not reached the threshold or really the amount of funding that is needed to meet the dire need of our community members, we have seen incremental impacts where community-based organizations that have been really funding this work on their backs with volunteers are able to keep their doors open,” Castillo said. 

That is the case for Life Builders as Betts says the funding has helped expand the program and pay for the salaries of coaches. 

It’s an opportunity coach Palmer Pitts is grateful for. 

“He gave me a job. He helped me provide for my family,” Pitts said. 

Pitts served an eleven year prison sentence for a non-fatal shooting and gang related activity and says getting a job afterwards was extremely challenging. 

“It’s not a thing that most people just, ‘oh, I’m gonna go to prison, I’m gonna come home and I’m going to do right’. It’s not that simple because the opportunities are not even there for you,” Pitts said. 

In California, 41% of incarcerated people are rearrested within three years of their release according to 2024 data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation — which marks a 2% decline from 2019. 

What You Need To Know

A statistic, Pitts noticed while serving time. 

“Before I came home, I saw the same faces over and over come right back. Come right back. And I’m like, dang, so what is the problem?” Pitts said. 

It’s a question many advocacy groups have asked. For Castillo, it’s about addressing root issues which she believes is what Measure J funding has the potential to do. 

“That is ultimately what this work is supposed to do, is supposed to lay the groundwork in foundation for prevention work and for support for our community members. And that is really what we’re looking for right, is how do we prevent our folks from going in, how do we prevent our folks from engaging in harmful systems? And how do we make sure that when they’re released in terms of what’s known as incarceration, when they’re released, they’re able to be supported?” Castillo said. 

The support that Pitts has felt from the program is now working to pass on by becoming the role model he did not have. 

“It’s personal for me to instill that in these kids, to have the confidence, to be able to be what you want to be without taking shortcuts and cutting corners,” Pitts said.