Visit Frequency feature

Food banks have different internal rules on how many times their client can visit in a month, a year, or a certain amount of days.

Visit frequencies do not work with CSFP programs as they have their own separate requirements.

This article covers the following topics: 

• Explanation of the Visit Frequency feature
• How to enable the Visit Frequency feature
• TEFAP Visit Frequency
• How to enable TEFAP Visit Frequency
• Functionality with Network Security settings 

Explanation of the Visit Frequency feature

The Visit Frequency feature allows organizations to set eligibility on how many visits a client can have from one program during a certain period of time.

Organizations can specify which program(s) at which agency should have eligibility set by that program and if they want it to be enforced. This can be applied to any client-specific (non-bulk) program by restricting the program to only allow a certain number of visits within a certain number of:

• Day(s)
• Calendar Weeks(s)
• Calendar Month(s)
• Calendar Year(s)

If a client has already visited the max number of times during the eligibility period, the green Eligible badge will turn into an orange Ineligible badge.

The user can still click on the program button. The pop-up on the left will appear notifying the user that the client is outside of their visit allotment

Organizations can decide to let the user record the visit anyway or they can request to have the Continue button removed to enforce the restriction.

This feature can only be enabled for non-commodity (not related to income guidelines) programs and generic programs.  

Generic programs set up to record in bulk do not allow visit frequency.

 

TEFAP Visit Frequency

Historically, TEFAP programs offered only two fixed options for visit frequency, limiting visits to once per month and lacking customization.

With the September 12 2024 update, we have removed the following options from the State-Specific Options at the Network level:

• Restrict TEFAP Visits in Same Month by Agency
• Restrict TEFAP Visits in Same Month by Network

These options have been integrated into the Visit Options section under Visit Frequency, providing greater flexibility similar to that available for pantry and generic programs. This enhancement allows you to customize visit limits both across the network and at individual agencies.

How to Enable Custom TEFAP Visit Frequency

1. Log in at the Network level.
2. Select Administration from the left-hand navigation menu.
3. Choose Network Programs.
4. Click the orange edit button next to the TEFAP program you wish to configure.
5. Navigate to Visit Options and expand this section by clicking the blue box.
6. If not already selected, check Visit Frequency.
7. Specify the number of visits allowed per set interval (day, week, month, year).
8. You can also check off Enforce Visit Frequency if you would not wish for this to be able to be bypassed. 
9. Check off the disclaimer.
10. Click Save to apply your changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Will the existing settings for "Restrict TEFAP Visits in Same Month by Agency or Network" be preserved after this update?
   Yes, these settings will be migrated to the Visit Options section under Visit Frequency.

2. Can I set different visit frequencies for multiple TEFAP programs?
   Yes, it is possible. Please contact support for assistance with adding a secondary TEFAP program. Once added, you can set different visit frequencies for each TEFAP program at the Network level.

How to enable the Visit Frequency feature

Only Network Administrators and Network Managers can enable visit frequency for programs at the Network or Agency level.

If a program's visit frequency is configured at the network level, this frequency will be shared between agencies. 

Follow these steps to enable this feature: 

1. Navigate to Administration on the left-hand side of the screen. 
2. Select Program Settings (either Network or Agency, depending on what is needed). 
3. Click on the orange edit icon next to the program you want to set up the visit frequency for. 
4. Click on the Visit Options section 
5. Check off the Visit Frequency button. 
6. Determine how many visits can occur during the designated time increment. 
7. Check on the box Enforce Visit Frequency if this is required.

Appointments: Appointments that have statuses with a parent type of Cancelled, Not Collected, and Rescheduled do NOT count towards the visit frequency. 

If you are using the Visit Frequency Feature Same Day appointments ARE blocked. 

If you are not using the Visit Frequency Feature Same Day appointments are NOT blocked.

Important: When a Network sets up visit frequencies it is important to note that if an Agency changes the visit frequency at the agency level, the system will use the agency settings for that particular agency and override the network settings. If you are setting up visit frequencies that are to be applied to ALL agencies across the Network, the Agency must not add their own visit frequency. 

Functionality with Network Security settings 

If the network is semi-restricted this can impact visibility for intake workers. An intake worker would potentially see a client as ineligible but not necessarily understand why as they may have visits already completed at another agency.

Something to be aware of is that semi-restricted networks can create some issues in what users will see. 
For example: In the case of a general user in a semi-restricted network, the user will not be able to see the visit or where it was recorded, but they will see that the client is ineligible. This is important to note as this can cause confusion for users as they will not have the same visibility as a Network Administrator. 

Network Security settings are typically set up when a Network is created for more details on Network Security Settings please click here. 

Note specific to visit frequency in the Christmas Program: As this program type is set to auto-adjust to reflect a yearly frequency when it is modified to a monthly or daily frequency and "saved" the frequency field reverts to yearly, which may give the impression that the new monthly/daily setting has not been saved; the settings have been saved and can be confirmed by scrolling down to the bottom of the program settings and reviewing the change history, the system is just resetting the default setting put in place to ensure that the settings default to yearly for individuals first setting up the program.