The GUIDON Knowledge Standards

The GUIDON Knowledge Standards

Every answer in the GUIDON Knowledge Base follows written sourcing, verification, and independence standards — every fact traced to an official source, every claim dated.

This page publishes those standards in full, because trust should never have to be taken on faith.

The GUIDON Foundation

The GUIDON Knowledge Standards

These Standards govern every piece of guidance we publish. They are not aspirations — they are requirements. Any content that cannot meet them does not ship.

Version 1.0 · Adopted July 26, 2026 · Reviewed annually

Our promise to the reader

Everything on this site can be traced to an official source, in plain language, with the date we last checked it. If we cannot verify it, we do not publish it.

I
Sourcing Rules
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1.1 Primary sources only.

Every factual claim about benefits, eligibility, deadlines, dollar amounts, or legal rights must trace to an official primary source, in this order of preference:

  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (va.gov, department.va.gov)
  • Other federal agencies (DOL, DOD, HUD, OPM, SSA, Education Dept.)
  • State government veteran affairs offices
  • Official military service branch publications
1.2 Recognized nonprofit partners.

Guidance about non-government resources may cite established national organizations with verifiable track records (e.g., IAFF, National Volunteer Fire Council, Cohen Veterans Network, Hire Heroes USA, Hiring Our Heroes). Inclusion requires the same verification standard as government sources.

1.3 Never sourced.

The following may never serve as the basis for published guidance: forums and social media, Reddit/Facebook groups, Wikipedia, AI-generated summaries (including our own drafts without verification), other veteran blogs, news articles reporting on policy without linking the policy itself, and any site that charges veterans for claims assistance without accreditation.

1.4 Link to the source, not about it.

Every answer links directly to the official page that substantiates it — not a homepage, not an aggregator. If a deep link breaks, the answer is flagged for repair.

1.5 Numbers are checked twice.

Phone numbers, deadlines, dollar amounts, and form numbers are verified against the official source at publication and at every subsequent review. A single wrong digit in a hotline number is a critical failure.

II
Plain Language Standard
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2.1 Reading level.

All guidance is written at approximately an 8th-grade reading level. Benefits language is translated, not copied: "compromise offer" is immediately followed by what it means in human terms.

2.2 Jargon rule.

Bureaucratic terms appear only when the reader will encounter them in the wild (e.g., "HUD-VASH," "VA Form 5655") — and each is defined at first use, because the reader will need to recognize it in official correspondence.

2.3 Voice.

GUIDON writes like a knowledgeable friend who has been through the system — direct, warm, never condescending, never clinical. Crisis-adjacent content follows the presence-over-guidance rule: it reads like a buddy, not a brochure.

2.4 No false hope, no false despair.

We state what is true, including odds and timelines. Where outcomes vary, we say so. Where a deadline is unforgiving, we say that too — clearly, early, and in plain sight.

III
Verification & Dating
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3.1 Verified-stamp system.

Every answer carries the date it was last verified against its source. Readers see when we last checked — trust requires a timestamp.

3.2 Review cycle.

All content is re-verified on a rolling schedule:

  • Crisis resources (hotlines, emergency benefits): quarterly
  • Deadlines, dollar amounts, rates (COLA, waiver windows, income limits): every January, or immediately upon announced changes
  • Program eligibility and processes: semi-annually
  • Everything else: annually at minimum
3.3 Event-driven review.

The following trigger immediate review of affected content: new legislation (e.g., PACT Act expansions), VA policy announcements, COLA adjustments, program launches or terminations, and broken-link reports.

3.4 Version history.

Material corrections are logged with date and nature of change. Errors are corrected openly — a corrected page is a trustworthy page.

IV
Corrections & Reader Feedback
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4.1 Reporting channel.

Readers can flag errors through the site's contact channel. Every report is reviewed.

4.2 Triage.

Reports involving safety (crisis lines, emergency benefits) are reviewed within 48 hours. All others within two weeks.

4.3 Accountability.

When we get it wrong, we fix it, log it, and — where the error may have affected decisions — note the correction on the page itself.

V
Editorial Independence
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5.1 No pay-to-play.

No donor, sponsor, partner, or grantor influences what we publish, how we rank resources, or what we say about any program. Funding relationships are disclosed; editorial decisions are not negotiable.

5.2 No claims-assistance conflicts.

GUIDON does not charge for guidance, does not sell reader data, and does not accept referral fees from claims consultants or for-profit veteran services.

5.3 The crisis banner is not negotiable.

Suicide-prevention resources occupy the most prominent position in the Knowledge Base, permanently, regardless of any other editorial or design decision.

VI
Scope & Limits
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6.1 What we are.

A guidance and navigation resource. We explain systems, verify information, and point to official doors.

6.2 What we are not.

We do not provide legal advice, medical advice, or accredited claims representation. We say so plainly and direct readers to accredited VSOs, attorneys, and clinicians where professional help is the right answer.

6.3 The human floor.

When a reader's situation exceeds what a website can carry, our guidance says so — and points to people.

Adopted by the founder, The GUIDON Foundation, July 26, 2026. Reviewed annually. Amendments logged below.
VersionDateChange
1.02026-07-26Initial adoption

Questions about these Standards? Reach us through the contact information at goguidon.com/the-foundation.