Methodology & trust

Truth is more valuable than completeness. If information cannot be verified, the platform clearly identifies it as UNKNOWN instead of guessing. Every page, component, database table, and workflow preserves this principle.

Verification is a statement about NOLO’s knowledge: how much has been checked, against which named source, and on what date. It is never a statement about a provider.

A thoroughly-checked record does not mean a better organization. A record NOLO has not checked does not mean a worse one — it means nobody has confirmed it yet. NOLO does not rank, rate, score, or recommend providers, and it does not sort results by popularity. In a safety net a well-known provider is often full and an obscure one may have capacity, so ranking would quietly mislead people about both.

Every published record carries one of these statuses:

• Source indicates activeA dated source indicated this program was operating when last checked. This is not provider confirmation and does not mean space or funding is available today.
• Possibly activeOur source suggests this program is running, but we could not confirm it directly. Call before you go.
• Needs verificationThis record has not been checked recently. Details may be wrong or out of date.
• Closed — do not referReported as closed. Please do not refer anyone here. We keep closed programs listed so nobody is sent to a locked door.

A program existing does not mean applications are open, funding is available, or beds are free. We display availability only when a dated, unexpired observation supports it — never inferred from a listing count.

Closed programs stay listed and are marked do not refer rather than deleted. Deleting a closed provider destroys the most useful fact about it.

Every record shows both the exact date it was last checked and how long ago that was, because “checked about eight months ago” is the part you can act on without doing arithmetic. Search results carry the same summary for the whole set, including how many records NOLO has not checked at all.

Stale records are labelled, never hidden. Hiding them would remove the only thing that makes the label worth reading.

Journey guidance is published block by block, and each block carries its own basis, jurisdiction, and check date. There are five bases and they are not interchangeable:

• Official source — a named page or regulation with a URL and a check date. This is the only basis allowed to state a rule or a fee, and it cannot be recorded without a source.
• Field practice — what experienced workers do. Useful, labelled as practice, never presented as an agency rule.
• Universal guidance — preparation advice that holds regardless of jurisdiction.
• Checked, not stated — a reviewer opened the named source, but it did not answer the question. The next step is to ask the responsible agency and record the answer, not to read silence as a no.
• Pending verification — a question NOLO has not answered yet, published as an open question rather than removed.

A check date says when a reviewer looked; it does not promise the information is still current. Jurisdiction says where the guidance applies. “Needs Kentucky verification” means a Kentucky source still has to answer the question. Until then, the item renders as something to ask, not as a fact.

Across 21 journeys, NOLO currently publishes 101 official routes verified against a named source, covering 21 of them. Every journey also keeps a plain statement of what remains unverified.

Most local doors are open a few hours a day. Publishing a phone number without the window it answers sends someone across town to a locked door, which is the most expensive mistake a person with no car and no money can make. Where NOLO publishes a number, it publishes the hours its source states.

NOLO also names the routes whose own sources state round-the-clock access — currently 7 of them. A route may be a staffed line, a form, or a locally administered process. This is a dated source statement, not a live check that someone will answer or that service is available.

Every journey has a printable referral packet: one page with the numbers to call and the hours they answer, what to bring, what to ask, what to do if it does not work, and the source and date behind each checked fact.

NOLO has no client accounts, case-note system, or client profiles. Search terms still appear in the page URL and may appear in hosting logs, and a correction stores what the reporter submits. Do not put a client’s identity or private facts in either place. The printable packet itself has blank lines for writing by hand.

Data releases will be dated and listed here once the public directory launches, including counts derived from each release — we do not type public numbers by hand.

Anyone can report outdated or missing information, no account required — use Report a change or email resources@nooneleftoutside.org. Corrections go to a review queue; nothing publishes without human review and evidence.

Stating this is part of the method, because each one is a way a resource directory normally goes wrong:

• No ranking, rating, or recommendation of providers.
• No availability claim without a dated, unexpired observation and visible limits.
• No eligibility determination. NOLO is not an application portal.
• No advertising, sponsored placement, or paid position in results.
• No client accounts, case-note system, or seeker profiles.
• No silent deletion. A record that closes is marked closed, and a correction is reviewed by a person.