Our Vetting Process

Every direct service provider listed on InReach is independently vetted by our trained volunteers to be a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ people facing  discrimination and persecution. 

Is the provider active and legitimate?

Is the provider LGBTQ+ affirming?

Does the provider meet any of InReach's intersectionality definitions?

We repeat our vetting process at least once every 6 months to ensure user safety.

Our Vetting Process (updated: 2023)

InReach is built for the diverse, intersectional LGBTQ+ community – InReach has services for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants, LGBTQ+ BIPOC communities, the transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) community, LGBTQ+ youth and their caregivers, and more LGBTQ+ communities in need of safe resources.

InReach works hard to fill our free App with high quality direct service providers that are useful, accessible, and welcoming to LGBTQ+ people facing discrimination and persecution. Our trained volunteers employ a rigorous tailored vetting process for all direct service providers listed on InReach. Our core vetting criteria include: 

  1. Is the direct service provider active and legitimate? (required to be listed on InReach)
  2. Is the direct service provider LGBTQ+ affirming? (required to be listed on InReach)
  3. Does the direct service provider meet any of InReach’s intersectionality definitions? (preferred but not required to be listed on InReach)
    • At InReach, we recognize that LGBTQ+ equality requires trans justice, racial justice, refugee justice, reproductive justice, language justice, and more. As a result, in addition to verifying that each provider listed on InReach is generally LGBTQ+ affirming, our trained volunteers also verify whether providers are led by and/or have expertise serving specific historically marginalized LGBTQ+ communities.
    • See our intersectionality definitions below for more information. 

Our team answers these criteria by researching and often directly communicating with each provider. Every provider listed on InReach has regularly updated documentation on these core criteria. Our team also assesses additional features that we like to see in the providers we publish, including: whether or not the provider offers translation services for non-English speaking clients, and whether or not the provider employs a confidentiality policy for its services. At the end of our vetting process, a provider is declared either: “verified” or “unverified.” Unverified providers are deemed ineligible (at least for the time being) for inclusion on InReach. 

Examples of things we look for during our vetting process include:

  • Does the provider have an active physical and/or web address?
  • Has the provider hosted events and/or updated online content within the past 6 months?
  • Is the provider responsive to email and/or phone outreach? 
  • Our trained volunteers deploy a multi-tiered vetting process to assess whether or not a service provider is generally ‘LGBTQ+ affirming’.   
  • Step #1: Is the organization’s mission to serve the LGBTQ+ community (e.g., an LGBTQ+ center)?
  • Step #2: If ‘no’ to the above, our Resource Team looks at different factors / questions based on the type of organization:
    • Religiously affiliated organization (e.g., Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, a church or congregation, etc.);
    • Organization who “serves everyone” or is “open to all people in need” (e.g., a food pantry, an overnight shelter, etc.);
    • A medical/healthcare organization (e.g., a hospital, medical clinic, health center or healthcare system, etc.);
    • An immigrant-focused organization (e.g., a non-LGBTQ+ specific organization providing immigrants with English as a second language classes, or legal services, etc.);
    • Other (ie., none of the above accurately describes the organization)
  •  Examples of things we look for include:
    • Anti-discrimination policy that clearly states banning discrimination for both sexual orientation and gender identity
    • LGBTQ+ community events or services (e.g., support groups, Pride month events on calendar)
    • Does your organization/clinic have experience working with members of the LGBTQ+ community?
    • Does your organization have any openly LGBTQ+ staff members? Do they receive the same benefits and policies as non-LGBTQ+ staff members? (e.g., family leave care; dependent policies; healthcare coverage)
    • Does your staff participate in any LGBTQ+ specific trainings and certifications?

With our history in LGBTQ+ asylum, our organization was founded on the belief that every LGBTQ+ person deserves the safety and freedom to live authentically. We believe that achieving LGBTQ+ equality requires transgender justice, racial justice, refugee justice, reproductive justice, language justice, and more.

As a result, in addition to satisfying our general LGBTQ+ affirming verification criteria, we look for (prefer but do not require to be listed on InReach) organizations who are ‘led by’ and/or have services ‘focused on’ serving historically marginalized LGBTQ+ communities. 

For example, we look for organizations who are led by those with relevant lived experience for LGBTQ+ people facing discrimination and persecution, such as organizations who are: 

  • Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) led 
  • Black led 
  • Immigrant led 
  • Trans led  
  • *Note: We hope to add new ‘led by’ categories in the future. 

We also look for organizations who provide services that are focused on serving a specific marginalized LGBTQ+ population(s), including: 

  • Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) community 
  • Immigrant community  
    • Asylum seekers
    • Resettled refugees 
  • LGBTQ+ youth 
    • Trans youth 
  • Spanish speakers 
  • Trans community 
    • Gender nonconforming community
    • Trans men and the transmasculine community 
    • Trans women and the transfeminine community
    • Trans youth 
  • *Note: As our organization’s capacity grows, we hope to add new LGBTQ+ communities in the future.  

Yes! We encourage the direct service providers listed on InReach to register for a free attorney/law student or non-legal service provider user account in order to add and edit information about their own organization and services.

All users are also encouraged to register for a free InReach user account in order to share public ratings (one to five stars) and written reviews on listed direct service providers’ profile pages to help share public feedback with other community members.

INREACH’S INTERSECTIONALITY DEFINITIONS

Please see below for our intersectionality definitions (introduced in January 2023) outlining how InReach defines which organizations are ‘trans led’, ‘BIPOC led’, ‘immigrant led’, etc. and what it means for an organization to offer a service ‘focused on’ a specific LGBTQ+ community. 

*Note: InReach will be launching a redesigned version of the free InReach App shortly, which will incorporate InReach’s new intersectionality definitions. Please check back for updates.  

Definitions List #1: Determining whether an organization meets any of InReach’s ‘led by” definitions

For consistency, InReach uses an adapted version of the Trans Justice Project definition of what it means to be ‘trans led’ for all of our LGBTQ+ community ‘led by’ definitions, as described below.

  • The organization publicly markets itself as ‘trans led;’ OR 
  • The organization meets the Trans Justice Project definition of what it means to be ‘trans led’; We adhere to the Trans Justice Funding Project definition, which holds that the majority of the people in charge of the group identify as trans or gender non-conforming. “In charge” includes any of the following examples:
    • The director, if there is one, should identify as trans or gender non-conforming.
    • The majority of the governing board collective, advisory committee, or similar governing body, if there is such a body, should identify as trans, or gender non-conforming.
    • The majority of any staff members should identify as trans or gender non- conforming.
    • If the organization or project is volunteer-run, the majority of volunteers should identify as trans or gender non-conforming.

 

  • The organization publicly markets itself as ‘BIPOC led’; OR 
  • The organization adheres to the adapted Trans Justice Funding Project definition for what it means to be ‘trans led’, which holds that the majority of the people in charge of the group identify as trans or gender non-conforming. As applied to ‘BIPOC led’, “in charge” includes any of the following examples:
    • The director, if there is one, should identify as BIPOC.
    • The majority of the governing board collective, advisory committee, or similar governing body, if there is such a body, should identify as BIPOC.
    • The majority of any staff members should identify as BIPOC.
    • If the organization or project is volunteer-run, the majority of volunteers should identify as BIPOC.
  • The organization publicly markets itself as ‘Black led’; OR 
  • The organization adheres to the adapted Trans Justice Funding Project definition for what it means to be ‘trans led’, which holds that the majority of the people in charge of the group identify as trans or gender non-conforming. As applied to ‘Black led’, “in charge” includes any of the following examples:
    • The director, if there is one, should identify as Black.
    • The majority of the governing board collective, advisory committee, or similar governing body, if there is such a body, should identify as Black.
    • The majority of any staff members should identify as Black.
    • If the organization or project is volunteer-run, the majority of volunteers should identify as Black.

 

  • The organization publicly markets itself as ‘Immigrant led’; OR 
  • The organization adheres to the adapted Trans Justice Funding Project definition for what it means to be ‘trans led’, which holds that the majority of the people in charge of the group identify as trans or gender non-conforming. As applied to ‘immigrant led’, “in charge” includes any of the following examples:
    • The director, if there is one, should identify as an immigrant.
    • The majority of the governing board collective, advisory committee, or similar governing body, if there is such a body, should identify as immigrants.
    • The majority of any staff members should identify as immigrants.
    • If the organization or project is volunteer-run, the majority of volunteers should identify as immigrants. 

Definitions List #2: Determining whether an organization has a service(s) ‘focused on’ a specific LGBTQ+ community

A service is defined as focusing on a specific LGBTQ+ community if:

  • The service exclusively serves that community;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving the community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are members of the community 

A service is defined as focusing on the HIV community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves the HIV community;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving the HIV community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are members of the HIV community. 

A service is defined as focusing on LGBTQ+ youth if the service:

  • Exclusively serves LGBTQ+ youth;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving LGBTQ+ youth; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are LGBTQ+ youth.  

A service is defined as focusing on the BIPOC community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves the BIPOC community;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving the BIPOC community; 
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of their clients served by the service are BIPOC. 

A service is defined as focusing on the immigrant community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves the immigrant community;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving the immigrant community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are immigrants.  

A service is defined as focusing on asylum seekers if the service:

  • Exclusively serves asylum seekers;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving asylum seekers; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are asylum seekers.  

 

A service is defined as focusing on resettled refugees if the service:

  • Exclusively serves resettled refugees;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving resettled refugees; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are resettled refugees.

 

A service is defined as focusing on Spanish speakers if the service:

  • Exclusively serves Spanish speakers;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving Spanish speakers; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are Spanish speakers. 

 

 

A service is defined as focusing on the transgender community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves the transgender community;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving the trans community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are transgender. 

 

A service is defined as focusing on trans youth if the service:

  • Exclusively serves trans youth;
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving trans youth; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are trans youth.

 

A service is defined as focusing on transgender men and the transmasculine community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves transgender men and the transmasculine community;  
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving transgender men and the transmasculine community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are transgender men and transmasculine folks.

 

A service is defined as focusing on transgender women and the transfeminine community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves transgender women and the transfeminine community;  
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving transgender women and the transfeminine community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are transgender women and transfeminine folks.

A service is defined as focusing on the gender nonconforming community if the service:

  • Exclusively serves the gender nonconforming community;  
  • The service explicitly markets itself as serving the gender nonconforming community; OR
  • The provider estimates that at least 50% of the clients served by the service are gender nonconforming.  

Our Re-Verification Process

We re-verify (repeat our tailored verification process described above) all of the direct service providers listed on InReach at least once every 6 months for maximum user safety and data quality control purposes.

During 2023, we will switch from geography-based tiers for re-verifications to re-verifying organizations by time (i.e., ‘when last verified’). 

Our trained interns carry out the bulk of our crucial re-verifications.

With increased capacity and support, we can continue to increase the frequency of our re-verifications to ensure our resource data remains up-to-date, 24/7. (Want to help? Make a tax-deductible donation today.)

Sample Verification Features on InReach

See the blue “Verified Information” badge (as shown below) on a direct service provider’s profile page to learn more about when the provider’s information was last updated by InReach’s trained volunteers.

The green “Claimed” badge (as shown below) indicates when a profile page has been claimed by a verified representative of the organization.

Additional Questions?

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us!

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