Where every number comes from
The tracker, the comparator, the calculators, the scorecards — every data point in this catalog cites its source, last-verified date, and refresh cadence. Documented here so state teams and reviewers can audit us.
Our methodology in short
Federal agencies, peer-reviewed research, TA-center data. No blog posts, no press releases without primary source backing.
Last-verified date attached to every data point. Stale records flagged after 12 months.
Automated pipeline flags anomalies. Subject matter experts sign off on every quarterly refresh.
Every correction is logged with date, prior value, corrected value, and reason.
Sources catalog
| Source | What it feeds | Refresh | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCSL bill trackers | State Policy Tracker · Model Language Library | Weekly | 2026-07-14 |
| ABLE NRC state comparison | Financial Literacy simulator · Comparator | Quarterly | 2026-06-30 |
| EEOC MD-715 + state/local reports | State-as-Employer scorecard | Annual | 2026-01-15 |
| BLS state-year employment | Model Employer + Comparator | Monthly | 2026-07-05 |
| JAN Cost/Benefit Survey | Accommodation Reality Check | Annual | 2026-05-01 |
| DOL RETAIN evaluation reports | RTW ROI Calculator | Per release | 2024-10-30 |
| Kennedy Forum State Parity Scorecard | Mental Health snapshot + Comparator | Annual | 2026-02-10 |
| SAMHSA Recovery-Ready Framework | Mental Health Self-Audit | Per release | 2025-11-14 |
| RSA-911 outcomes | Education-to-Workforce Wizard | Annual | 2026-03-01 |
| SSA POMS | ABLE + SSI + Entrepreneurship simulators | Per POMS update | 2026-06-01 |
| DOL AI Literacy Framework | AI Literacy Quiz | Per release | 2025-09-20 |
| Yin (2026) RISEI Lab WP 2026-05 | Causal ABLE effect estimates | Per revision | 2026-05-15 |
| State agency reports (50 states) | State Policy Tracker (per-state records) | Rolling | Per-state entry |
Quarterly refresh process
Automated pull
Every listed source pulled by scheduled job. Snapshots stored with timestamp.
Anomaly detection
Quarter-over-quarter change thresholds flag suspect values for SME review.
SME sign-off
Subject matter expert reviews every flagged record before publication.
Public change log
Every change logged with date, prior value, new value, and rationale.
Known limitations
- Territory coverage. American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, USVI are represented in the tracker but per-territory data density is lower than for the 50 states.
- State legislative variation. Some states use bill-tracking systems not covered by NCSL. Manual entry closes this gap on a rolling basis.
- Lag on federal data. RSA-911 and EEOC MD-715 data typically publish 12-18 months after the fiscal year. We label reporting lag explicitly.
- Descriptive, not causal. The tracker is descriptive. Causal claims only appear where research supports them (e.g., Yin 2026 for ABLE, RETAIN Phase 2 for RTW).
- Aggregation. Some state-year comparisons involve small denominators; confidence intervals available on request.