Complaint Review: LAYN Los Angeles Youth Network

This is 100% pathetic now. 

I don't need to call people names to prove anything. Let alone lie. But whatever helps you achieve
a good nights rest. I am not humoring your desperation but for the cause of the homeless youth.

1) I quit.

2) Raised more than $150 a day for the one week I was there.So I didn't rub too many people the wrong way.

Please research this company. They were first SFHSC, then LAHSC, and now LAYN. Just ask them how long have they had those houses and when do they plan on not denying 4,000 homeless kids  shelter every single night.

LAYN exploits homeless children similar to prostitution. LAYN steals millions from L.A.'s public everyday. 

That last post was incredibly emotional and hate filled for a professional company who's actions already speak so much louder than words. Thank you for showing your true colors.

This is pathetic now. Youre trying to instigate a personal attack. 'Pathetic' is the only word.

 The immature name calling is unnecessary and just sounds childish. 

Jake you are bold face lying. I quit LAYN after a week of a 2 1/2 hour bus ride one way andraising over 150 dollars a day.

My name is William Yllanes Jr.  Seeing how you love to gossip instead of ask questions I will oblige for the homeless youth. 

Don't call anyone caring for neglected children hurtful names or lie about the current situation. 

Whatever you need to write on here to sleep better after stealing from the public. 

Do not insult me for doing the right thing. You know you're serving yourself and Daniel Rotman.

***Rashelle Segura worked for 6 months and told me how deep this really goes. Don't take my word for it! research yourself. Ask to see how many beds they have and for how long they've had them.

LAYN exploits homeless children to steal millions of dollars(.) No personal emotions necessary.

I remember the kid who wrote this "report" on here, his name is Billy. I worked with him as a canvasser. He's nutty. Not surprised he wrote this. So sad to see him attack a shelter for homeless kids based on his being unstable. When I worked with him I even told my supervisor after one of the shifts about canvassing with him and how intense he was when he would canvass donors and how he freaked them out. Clearly the shelter figured it out, I guess they let him go, and to get revenge he posts this stupid false report on the shelter. Sad..shame on you Billy.

For the record to anyone reading this post, LAYN is awesome. I worked with their kids at the shelter, went on several shelter tours, and they are completely legit. Everyone who I met that ever worked for them (minus Billy) including my supervisors were kind, knowledgeable, professional and completely legit people. Crazy people like Billy scare me. In light of the shootings in Tuscon of the Congresswoman and all those poor people, and the mentally unstable kid who did it, it reminds me of how crazy some people are. Even if Billy wants to bad mouth the organization thank god he doesn't work there anymore. He was a huge risk to the community to be out there representing the org like that.

Responding to the latest rebuttal.#4

Who are you to call someone overemotional about a cause they are passionate about?

I have been an at risk youth since 17 and now dedicate my life to this pandemic cause. I know with logic before emotion what is right and what is wrong. Your seenothingnow viewpoint is apathetic, pathetic, and worthless. Cause if your not overdramatically emotional why do you want to forget it so badly? I appreciate your facts but take a firm.

Rebuttal #5 You work for LAYN and know the holiday season is the busiest because everyone is more generous than usual. Everyone that knows what you do doesnt understand how you sleep at night, besides on a pile of money. You know better which is why you can only b***h and YOU do not provide ONE SHRED OF VALID PROOF. IM NOT GOING TO SAY THIS AGAIN.

LAYN IS A FOSTER HOME FUNDED BY THE STATE. 15 kids in foster homes for the past 8+ years and present LAYN as a homeless shelter! 46k raised a month, 2 million a year goes to the richer. THE SADDEST PART is that Tourists from other countries and young rich people give the most.

DO YOUR RESEARCH AND IGNORE THE REST. I WILL NOT REMOVE THE TRUTH SO PREY ON ANOTHER CITY. CAUSE LOS ANGELES IS NOT AS FEEBLE MINDED AS YOU.

A lot of this complaint is accurate, but its obvious that he is hurt and over emotional.

I just want to forget this experience. it seems no one works here longer than a few weeks. My friends got fired by being told "we need to check our budget so we are putting your shifts on hold" then a few days later they got calls saying they were fired and to come get their paychecks. One girl just got a letter in the mail saying she was fired like three days later.

If you know CA state law then you know thats illegal. Checks have to be in hand within 24 hours of termination but by doing this they attempt to circumvent state law.

I tried looking up the financials but couldnt find anything, there is nothing on guidestar.

I know the permits say 50% covers cost. That seems high.

It sounds like you had a difficult experience with canvassing, but I am also a former employee of the LAHSC and a huge supporter of LAYN (including its canvassing campaign).  I have been on at least three shelter tours to see the facilities in Hollywood and to see how the funds we raised were put to work.  I have even received donations from adults who, when they were younger, benefited from the amazing services offered at LAYN and were happy to help the next generation of struggling teens.

You offer no valid proof that the funds raised did not benefit those kids, and since I have visited the shelter on various occasions and since I have interacted with shelter staff and have been personally informed about how much the contributions we brought in benefited those kids, I think that it'd be best for you to remove this complaint and do some more research.

Yes! Please do exactly what they say. Just make sure you see the amounts THAT ARE NON-EXISTENT.

This company on average brings in over 2million dollars from street donations the majority not claimed in taxes

Let the people judge for themselves then instead of your prolonged essays and bogus vague statements.

Again, hopefully they will stop this nonsense and actually look into what they are doing.

This swindling hides behind two foster home fronts with no plans for expansion. The foster homes already receive copious amounts from the government where they are able to be well taken care with plenty of ammenities including big screen plasma tvs and anything else they would like NOT INCLUDING ALL THE MONEY THAT THEY NOR LA WILL EVER SEE AGAIN.

The Los Angeles Youth Network, (LAYN) is a non-profit youth homeless shelter based in Hollywood, California founded in 1984 as part of a collaboration between city, health and youth advocacy groups. Our 25 year history of providing shelter, food, counseling, education and empowerment to homeless youth, aged 12-17, is well documented and easily verifiable on both htttp://www.GuideStar.org and http://www.NetworkForGood.org where complete financial documents can be found and are posted for public viewing.

LAYN operates three physical facilities providing emergency, transitional and long-term shelter to youth in need. Additionally, LAYN offers street outreach, individual and family counseling, job assistance training and independent living programs to youth from 18-24. At the current time, LAYN has more than 40 residents benefiting directly from our programs and countless others who indirectly benefit through our full scope of services each day. LAYN holds monthly volunteer information sessions whereby individuals from the public can visit a location, learn about agency history and view for themselves the impacts made by the agency. More details about our services can also be found at http://www.lahsa.org, http://www.healthycity.org, and http://www.layn.org.

Additionally, LAYN operates a street team campaign based out of a location in Westwood, Los Angeles. The purpose of this street team is to raise awareness and funds for LAYN and is directly responsible for raising contributions, in-kind donations and countless volunteer hours. The street team is operated by dedicated LAYN employees, not professional fundraisers, who accept a tough position by soliciting funds and awareness directly from the public throughout Los Angeles.  While the funds raised by the street team is significant, it is only a portion of the agency budget and not anything close to the claims made by the author.

While the person who posted this report is obviously upset, he is also extremely misinformed as to the facts about his ex-employer. The person he named is a former employee as well and is neither the founder nor a past or current Executive Director.  While these facts could have been easily ascertained on our website, the complaint-writer took no effort to mediate this dispute with our HR department and chose instead to make false and unsubstantiated claims. As a direct result, LAYN now invites street team employees to visit the facilities, volunteer their time and meet the residents at the
Hollywood facilities. We stand behind our services, employees and youth and offer the opportunity for individuals to learn more by emailing: info@layn.org

Why does he go into such great detail about an organization that they are not affiliated with.

You be the judge and ask to see expense reports and other numbers that don't exist as they are NOT a homeless shelter but two individual foster homes scamming foreigners and other innocent kind hearted individuals who give money to kids with clip boards without further researching a company.

They only target high end areas and in turn only hire desperate kids seeking employment with the constant fear of being fired for not blindly stealing enough money.

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, RESEARCH IT YOURSELF AS I ALREADY HAVE PERSONALLY. YOU WILL SEE ALL OF THEIR EXPENSE "DOCUMENTATION/RECORDS" ARE NON EXISTENT!!

The former disgruntled employee is wrong on so many issues it's hard to know where to begin. However we can begin with the first line in their body of lies.

The organization is called the Los Angeles Youth Network and is a homeless shelter for at-risk youth ages 12 to 17 in Hollywood. LAYN was founded in 1984 and has been one of the leading shelters in LA helping homeless kids for over 20 years.  They have nothing to do with SFHSC nor have any work being done San Francisco.   The employee mentions Daniel in their "report".  Daniel was a Director for SFHSC which provided services through public education, the collection of food and clothing and disbursement of grants to shelters in San Francisco and across the Bay.  SFHSC was never shut down and any attempt to thwart their great work failed everytime. SFHSC faced fierce opposition from a small select few insiders in the homeless services community in SF who hated the idea of a new group coming in and solicited the help of Amanda Witherall to write a hit piece on SFHSC.  These types of hit pieces have been used against new service providers in SF for years and the SF Homeless Services community is known for its exclusive tendencies to try and shut out new groups. SFHSC has close and strong ties to many shelters in the Bay Area and has been repeatedly thanked and welcomed by the larger homeless services community in the Bay Area for their help.

The LA Youth Network, with Daniel as an employee using his expertise of grassroots campaigns, launched a canvassing campaign in LA to further expand the agencies services and fundraising.  The reason you can not find anyone flagging this organization is because it's highly regarded by almost all employees as an amazing place to work benefiting greatly the youth of LA.  The idea that you would take the time to writeup something bad mouthing LAYN having done no research about who SFHSC, LAYN or anyone else you mention is, is so sad.  Almost every misspelled typo filled line of your rant is so inaccurate and flatly false that this response is meant to educate the community hearing about LAYN for this first time through you rather than respond to your ignorance.  Your attempt to hurt a youth shelter because you weren't meeting your performance duties isn't anyone's fault but your own.