Client and household management (Searching, Updating, Archiving, Linking)

Below you will find details on how to effectively utilize the search function in Link2Feed's Case Management tool and also how to manage households within client profiles. 

This article covers the following topics: 

• How do I search for Clients? 
• How do I update an existing Client? 
  • How do I set a Client's profile to deceased or archived?
  • How do I activate deceased and archived Clients?
• Case Management features
• How do I Move an existing Client? 
• How do I Promote a household member to a primary Client?
• How do I Merge & Link duplicate household members?
• How do I Remove / Unlink a household member?

How do I search for Clients?

Search It is recommended that you always search for a client before clicking on the Add New Client button.

There are three options available to search for a client:

Option 1: 

1. Locate the Search feature at the top right corner of the screen. 
2. Search for the client using the method you have selected for your preferred client search.

Option 2: 

1. Open Case Management. 
2. On the dashboard scroll down to the Search for Clients By... section. 
3. Use the search bar to search for your client. You can search using the following characteristics of ANY individual within a household by selecting the appropriate tab at the top of the search.  
   
   
   • First Name
   • Last Name
   • Last Name First Name (at least 2 characters)
   • First Name Last Name (at least 2 characters)
   • Date of Birth
   • Client ID#
   • Street or Full Address
   • Phone Number

Option 3: 

1. On the left-hand side of the screen click Clients, then select Client Search. 
2. Use the search bar to search for your client. You can search using the following characteristics of ANY individual within a household by selecting the applicable tab at the top of the search: 
   
   
   • First Name
   • Last Name
   • Last Name First Name (at least 2 characters)
   • First Name Last Name (at least 2 characters)
   • Date of Birth
   • Client ID#
   • Street or Full Address
   • Phone Number

If you are logged into an agency with an FFC (Food for Change) pantry, you can also search by the client's FFC ID#.

If you are logged into an agency with a CSFP Pantry (US users only), you can also search by the client's CSFP ID number.

If your network is tracking barcodes, you can also search by barcode. You can read more about barcode scanning here. 

How do I update an existing Client?

In order to make changes to an existing client please follow these steps: 

1. Refer to How do I search for Clients? to see three ways to search for a client. 
2. Updating an existing client is very similar to creating a new client. For more information on how to add a new client please navigate here. 
3. Use the tabs along the top of the screen to switch between headings of your client's profile. 
4. Click on the edit icon to edit a household member's information. 
5. Click on the trash icon to remove a household member. 
6. Click on the Save Changes button to save your changes. Click on the Save & Previous button to go to the previous page or the Save & Next button to move on to the next page. 
7. Notifications will appear to let you know when your changes are saving and have been successfully saved. 

Forced Review: Link2Feed has a Forced Review feature that is generally defaulted to force users to review client profiles at least once every 365 days. Click here to learn more about where that feature can be altered to force users to review files more or less frequently.

How do I set a Client's profile to deceased or archived?

How do I set a client's profile to deceased?

Permission: Only users with the role of Agency Manager or higher can see the option to mark a user as deceased. General intake staff will not see the dropdown arrow.

In the event a client's profile needs to be marked as deceased please follow these steps: 

1. Search for the client's profile. Refer to How do I search for clients? to see how to search for a client. 
2. You will notice a dropdown arrow beside the client's ID number on the top right-hand corner of the page. 
3. Click on the arrow and then click on Mark Deceased. 
4. A confirmation box will appear asking if you're sure you want to mark the client as deceased. Click on the Mark Deceased button to confirm your choice or hit Cancel to return to the profile without making any changes. 

CSFP Deceased Status (US Only): When a client's CSFP status is changed to Deceased, the client will be marked as deceased. The confirmation box mentioned above will appear when this happens.

What happens to a deceased client? Deceased clients will no longer be editable. Furthermore, new visits cannot be recorded, and existing visits cannot be edited. Visits by deceased clients will still appear in reports and in exports, which both use a snapshot of the client's status at the time of visit. Deceased clients will continue to be visible in some lists, but visits connected to those lists will not be editable for deceased clients.

How do I set a Client's profile to archived? 

Permission: Only users with the role of Agency Manager or higher can see the option to mark a user as archived. General intake staff will not see the dropdown arrow.

In the event a client's profile needs to be marked as archived please follow these steps: 

1. Search for the client's profile. Refer to How do I search for clients? to see how to search for a client. 
2. You will notice a dropdown arrow beside the client's ID number on the top right-hand corner of the page. 
3. Click on the arrow and then click on Archive Client. 
4. A confirmation box will appear asking if you're sure you want to mark the client as archived. Click on the Archive Client button to confirm your choice or hit Cancel to return to the profile without making any changes. 

What happens to an archived client? Archived clients do not appear in searches and their profiles cannot be viewed by intake users and agency managers. Historical data for clients remains in reports and exports when they have been archived. 

How do I activate deceased and archived Clients?

Only Network admins have the ability to un-archive (activate) clients.

In order to activate (un-archive) a deceased or archived client you can follow these steps:

1. Open up Case Management.
2. Within the Search field type in the Client’s name.
3. Once the client details are pulled up click the Activate Client button in the top right-hand corner.
4. Select Activate to restore the client or Cancel to not move forward with the change.

Case Management features

Open client in View Mode

On each page of a client's profile, you will see the option to See Client in View Mode. This will give you the opportunity to view all of this client's information on one page. This is possible regardless of if the profile is not yet complete or has to be reviewed. This page includes household members, visits, and notes made for the household. 

Visits in View Mode

Notes in View Mode

There's a Leave a Note option in the Household Notes area. Any notes created here will automatically appear on the client's Notes page. Rules about private and alert notes also apply here. 

Close / Back Button's in View Mode

When in View Mode either on the client's profile or when comparing duplicates, there is a button in the right-hand corner to take you back to the previous page. If comparing duplicates, it will say Close Window, if viewing a client's profile, it will say Back to Previous Page.

CSFP/TEFAP Information in View Mode

When viewing a client in View Mode, any details from the CSFP or TEFAP tabs will still appear in their respective sections, even if the client is currently in a review status; allowing you to see all relevant CSFP/TEFAP information without needed to complete a review. 

The CSFP and/or TEFAP boxes will only appear if the user has the CSFP Worker and/or TEFAP Food Bank roles enabled in their user account. Click here for more information on User Management.

Visit History

In addition to the Last Profile Review date, the Last Visit Date appears underneath it. This will immediately let you know if (based on your food bank's rules) a client is eligible to return for a visit without going to the Services page. 

Last Visit Date only includes pantry/food bank (including CSFP & TEFAP) programs. This is not including generic programs.

Complete client profile review now

When a client's profile review is scheduled for within 90 days, the Next Profile Review notification will turn yellow. When it's down to 30 days, it will turn red and shake on the screen. To complete the client's profile review before the scheduled date, you can click on the Complete Review Now button. This will allow you to do the review with the client if they happen to come into the food bank close to that date. 

Non-Primary client link

When accessing an individual's profile, if you are not viewing the primary client, a link will show at the top of each client intake page to allow you to switch to viewing the primary client's profile. 

In the example below Rhea Titan is not the primary client. Clicking on the blue bar, Click here to switch to the primary client of this household, will redirect to the primary client's profile, in this case, Cronus Titan

Moving a household member

Link2Feed has the option to move an individual from one household to another. If you are attempting to add a client to a household, but they are already in the system with another household, you can move them. This move will include all of their client information. A notification will show on the Services page the date of that client's last visit in their previous household. More information on this is available in the next section.

How do I Move an existing Client?

When the Client says someone has moved in

1. Find the client's household. You can find more information about how to search for a client by going to How do I search for clients?
2. Click on the Add button at the bottom of the Personal page to add another household member. 
3. After entering the first name, last name, and date of birth, a Possible Duplicate notification may appear on your screen when you're attempting to add a new client or new household member. The notification is letting you know that this person may already be in the Link2Feed system. 
4. When this notification shows up, you can View the client's profile before deciding to move it. Click on See More to view more details and available actions. 
   
   
   • View: another tab will open for you to view this person's profile in View Mode. Viewing this information will allow you to determine whether or not this is the same person you're trying to add.
   • No: clicking this means this is not the client you are looking for. It will add a dismissed duplicate to the Dismissed Duplicates page.
   • Yes: clicking this means this is the client you are looking for. This will open up the Link and Move Actions. 
   • Link: this option will link the client to the household you are editing. That client will still be in their current household but will be able to record visits at this household. 
   • Move: This option will move the client out of their current household and into the household you are editing. This person will no longer be associated with their previous household and their information will be moved to the current one.
5. A confirmation box will appear asking if you're sure this is the action you want to take, click on Move or Link depending on the option selected to confirm you would like to move or link this member to the current household.
6. A box will appear to confirm the relationship with the primary client.
7. A notification will appear at the top right of your screen indicating that the household member has been successfully added or linked. 

When the client has moved in with someone else

1. Ask the client for the name of the person they are now living with. Find that person by searching for their name. You can find more information about how to search for a client by going to How do I search for clients? 
2. Follow steps 2-7 under When the Client says someone has moved in. Ensure to enter the information of the client in front of you when adding them as a household member. 

Move: use move if the client will be residing at just the one address.
Link: use link when the client is living between two households; for example a child who lives in two households due to joint custody.

How do I Promote a household member to a primary Client?

If you need to promote a household member to be the new primary client for a household follow these steps: 

Only users with the Agency Manager role or higher will be able to promote a household member.

1. Refer to How do I search for clients? to see the three ways to search for a client. You'll want to search for another person in the household of the person you want to promote. For example, if Bill and Sue live together and you want to make Sue the primary client, go to Bill's profile. 
2. Navigate to the Personal page of the client's profile. 
3. Navigate to the Household Members section. 
4. Click on the up arrow icon beside the household member's name to promote them. 
5. A box will appear asking you to confirm you would like to make this member the primary household member. Select Apply to save changes or Cancel to discard the changes. The changes are immediate but do not change any visit history - only the live client view. 

How do I Link a household member?

To link a client to a household please follow these steps: 

1. Find the client's household. You can find more information about how to search for a client by going to How do I search for clients?
2. Click on the Add button at the bottom of the Personal page to add another household member.
3. Follow steps 2-7 here ensuring to hit Link. 
4. When viewing a linked household member's profile, the composition of both households that they're linked to will be displayed. 

You will know someone is linked to another household when you see a link icon beside their name in the Household members section. 

How do I Merge & Link duplicate household members?

In order to merge and link duplicate household members please follow these steps: 

1. Search for the individual who has duplicate profiles and take note of the two profiles they're in. 
2. Go to Client Duplicates to merge this individual into one profile. See How do I merge client duplicates? for more information on how to merge duplicates. 
3. This individual will now only appear in one household. To link them to the other household, follow the steps in How do I link a household member above.

How do I Remove / Unlink a household member?

Removing a household member DOES NOT delete them from the system. Clients cannot be removed from the system for data integrity purposes. Removing them from a household separates them from the one they're in and creates a new household for them.

In order to Remove / Unlink a household member please follow these steps: 

1. Refer to How do I search for clients? to see the three ways to search for a client. You'll want to search for another person in the household of the person you want to delete. For example, if Bill and Sue live together and you want to delete Sue, go to Bill's profile. 
2. Go to the Personal page of the client's profile. 
3. Go down to the Household Members section. 
4. Click on the trash icon beside the household member's name to remove it. 
5. A notification will appear asking you to confirm if you'd like to remove this member from the household. It also clarifies that the member is not being deleted, but put into a new household. 

When someone is removed from the household, a notification will appear on the Services page of their new household indicating the most recent date of their visit in their previous household. All their visits from their previous household are still in the system, but not visible. 

You can find a full Household Management video below: