Name, county, and phone are the minimum needed to count the request. Email is optional so a phone-only client is never turned away from the log.
Choosing Denied opens section 4. Every other outcome leaves section 4 closed, so nothing extra is asked of staff.
Direct client benefit means money or goods that would have gone to or for the client — utility payment, rent, deposit, repair, supplies. Answer No when the denial was for a service such as a class, screening, or enrollment slot.
Fixed list, no “Other.” If staff hit a reason that doesn't fit, they tell the committee and the list gets reviewed — that keeps the reporting clean.
A referral is not a denial. A client can be denied assistance and still leave with a referral — both get counted, and the monthly report shows each on its own line.
“No funds available” separates unmet need from ineligibility. That single split is the number to take to a legislative conversation: people who qualified and were turned away because the money ran out.