This guide lists the different field options available in Link2Feed and key details on configuration. It also provides some details on why you might want to track the fields within your network.
This article covers the following topics:
Definitions for the table
Field Name: The label for the field in the system.
Case Management Tab: The name of the tab where the field appears on the client's profile.
Individuals: Individuals are the people who are selected on the Visit page under the Who from the household is receiving services for this visit section. If a field is for the Individual, it means that it is captured at the individual level and not the household.
Household: Individuals are grouped into household profiles (Households) in Link2Feed based on the discretion of the user. Household reports count the entire household as a unit.
Client: The person whose name was at the top of the page when the visit was recorded. NOTE: The Client in reports is not necessarily the same thing as the Primary Household Member indicated in the household profile.
List Options: The options that appear underneath fields. Didn't Ask, Don't Know, and Prefer Not to Answer are default locked list options for the following fields: Gender Identity, Ethnicity, Disability, Self-Identifies As, Household Social Programs, and Dietary Considerations.
Customizable List: If a field has customizable list options, then the options that appear for that field can be customized by a network administrator.
Label: The words you would like displayed in the system for each list option. Reporting is based on labels.
Parent Types: The category associated with a label. Some customizable fields have Parent Types that are used as a mapping of your custom options. For example, for Referred to, you might have a list option called Main Street Salvation Army, which would need to be mapped to the parent type Emergency Shelter. Not all fields have parent types.
Field Type: The field type determines the type of data that a user can enter into the field. The different types in Link2Feed are: Checkboxes- Select All That Apply, Date Field, Dropdown + Free Text, Dropdown- Select One, Dropdown + Select All That Apply, Free Text, Radio Buttons- Select One.
| Personal |
| Profile |
| Monthly Income |
| Dietary Considerations |
| Household Members |
Table
Fields that cannot be disabled with no customizable list options
| Field Name | Case Management Tab | Individual or Household | Field Type | Considerations |
| First Visit | Personal | Household | Date Field | Used to understand how long a client has been accessing services. This pulls into the Households: New vs. Existing section of the Statistics Report and is also available in the Time Series Report. |
| First and Last Name | Personal | Individual | Free Text | Key part of client profiles and part of duplicate checking. Gathered for all members of the household. If clients do not feel comfortable providing their name, anonymous visits can also be configured. Can search for clients by first and/or last name. |
| First and Last Name | Household Members | Individual | Free Text | Key part of client profiles and part of duplicate checking. Gathered for all members of the household. If clients do not feel comfortable providing their name, anonymous visits can also be configured. Can search for clients by first and/or last name. |
| Date of Birth | Personal | Individual | Date Field | Entering the date of birth calculates age. DOB is part of duplicate checking. Gathered for all members of the household. Can indicate that the date of birth is estimated. Can search for clients by date of birth. |
| Date of Birth | Household Members | Individual | Date Field | Entering the date of birth calculates age. DOB is part of duplicate checking. Gathered for all members of the household. Can indicate that the date of birth is estimated. Can search for clients by date of birth. |
| Relationship | Household Members | Individual | Dropdown- Select One | Field that specifies the relationship between the primary client and their household members. Fixed list options are: Boyfriend/Girlfriend, Child, Common-Law Partner, Friend, Grandchild, Grandparent, Other, Other Relative, Parent, Roommate, Sibling, Spouse, Ward, Undisclosed |
Fields that cannot be disabled with customizable list options
| Field Name | Case Management Tab | Individual or Household | Field Type | Considerations |
| Address (Street, State, County, City, Zip) | Personal | Household | Free Text | Client Address, which is part of duplicate checking. Address finds latitude and longitude in the back end and plots on the map on Personal tab; also used to plot client location on Heat Map Report. Address field is integrated with an OpenStreetMap API to make address completion easier. If the client does not have housing, they can select a "No Fixed Address" checkbox. Can also search for clients by address. |
| Gender Identity | Personal | Individual | Dropdown- Select Oner | Select Gender Identity from drop-down options. Default options are Female, Male, Transgender, None of These, Prefer Not to Answer, Didn't Ask. Networks can opt to add/customize additional options for gender identity. |
| Ethnicity | Personal | Individual | Checkboxes- Select All That Apply | Mandatory for many USDA programs such as CSFP. The parent types use categories from the U.S. Census. They are decoupled from how USDA categorizes and census reporting, but can be grouped back together for reporting purposes. Default list options are: White/Anglo, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Native American, Asian, Alaska Native/Aleut/Eskimo, Middle Eastern/North African, Pacific Islander, Other, None. Prefer Not to Answer, Didn't Ask, Don't Know are Locked. Networks can opt to add/customize additional ethnicity options. |
| Race/Ethnicity | Personal | Individual | Checkboxes- Select All That Apply |
Mandatory for many USDA programs such as CSFP. The parent types use categories from the U.S. Census. They are decoupled from how USDA categorizes and census reporting, but can be grouped back together for reporting purposes. Default list options are: White/Anglo, Black/African American, American Indian/Native American, Asian, Alaska Native/Aleut/Eskimo, Middle Eastern/North African, Pacific Islander, Other, None. Prefer Not to Answer, Didn't Ask, Don't Know are Locked. Networks can opt to add/customize additional ethnicity options. This setting separates Race and Ethnicity into separate questions.
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Fields that can be disabled with no customizable list options
| Field Name | Case Management Tab | Individual or Household | Field Type | Considerations |
| Preferred Agency | Personal | Individual | Dropdown | Indicates the preferred agency of the client from a fixed list of organizations in the Network. |
| Max Visits per Month | Personal | Household | Free Text | Maximum visits the household should be allowed each month. Is displayed in household summary. |
| Disability | Household Members | Individual | Yes, No, Didn't Ask, Don't Know, Prefer Not to Answer | If the client identifies with having a disability. |
| Email Contact Consent | Personal | Individual | Radio Buttons - Select One | Tracks whether or not a client has consented to contact via email. |
| Text Contact Consent | Personal | Individual | Radio Buttons - Select One | Tracks whether or not a client has consented to contact via text. |
| Voice Contact Consent | Personal | Individual | Radio Buttons - Select One | Tracks whether or not a client has consented to contact via voice. |
| Marital Status | Personal | Individual | Radio Buttons - Select One | Marital status of the client. Fixed List options are: Single, Married, Common-Law, Divorced, Don't Know, Separated, Widowed, Didn't Ask, Prefer Not to Answer. Many networks shut this field off as "relationship types" are also defined when adding household members. |
| Email Address | Personal | Individual | Dropdown + Free Text | Beneficial for organizations to collect so they can be in contact with clients about program changes, agency closures, etc. |
| Phone Number | Personal | Individual | Dropdown + Free Text | Beneficial for pantries to collect so they can be in contact with clients about program changes, agency closures, etc. Can search for clients by phone number. Export will not show the type (Home, Mobile) of the phone number. |
| Languages | Personal | Household | Dropdown- Select All That Apply | List of all the world's languages. Can specify pinned languages in network settings, so they appear at the top of the list. Having this data gives valuable reporting information at the state level. Helps with advocacy or understanding community language needs/needs for translation of materials. Link2Feed can add languages to the fixed list upon request. |
| Education Type (Highest Education Level Completed) | Profile | Individual | Radio Buttons - Select One | Tracks the client's highest education level. Having this data can help determine the type of employment clients are eligible for or help identify clients for educational programs. This is especially relevant for organizations that provide wrap-around services or work with education/workforce development partners. Fixed list options are: Grade 0-8, Grade 9-11, GED, High School Diploma, Post Secondary (some), Trade School/Professional Accreditation, 2 Year Degree, 4 Year Degree, Master's Degree, PhD, Undisclosed. |
| Country of Education | Profile | Individual | Dropdown | Tracks the country of education. |
| County | Personal | Indvidual | Free Text | The county in which the client resides. |
Fields that can be disabled with customizable list options
| Field Name | Case Management Tab | Individual or Household | Field Type | Considerations |
| Housing Type | Personal | Household | Radio Buttons- Select One | Housing security has a strong tie to food security. This data can help with grant applications and other programming related to the root causes of poverty. |
| ID Type (Identification) | Personal | Individual | Dropdown + Free Text | This field is not often tracked, since most commodities programs can't ask for ID. Field includes an open text field that is double-encrypted, but networks using this field should encourage pantries not to put anything sensitive (i.e. a SSN). If the network is using barcode scanning, this field needs to be turned on. |
| ID Type (Identification) | Household Members | Individual | Dropdown + Free Text | This field is not often tracked, since most commodities programs can't ask for ID. Field includes an open text field that is double-encrypted, but networks using this field should encourage pantries not to put anything sensitive (i.e. a SSN). If the network is using barcode scanning, this field needs to be turned on. |
| Referred By | Personal | Household | Radio Buttons/Dropdown- Select One | Field to determine how clients found out about the organization's services. Can be used for monitoring partnerships and understanding marketing effectiveness. Networks can customize the name of the referral sources to reflect the specific partners they have in their communities. |
| Gender Identity | Household Members | Individual | Dropdown- Select One | Select Gender Identity from drop-down options. Default options are Female, Male, Transgender, None of These, Didn't Ask, Prefer Not to Answer. Networks can opt to add/customize additional options for gender identity. |
| Ethnicity | Household Members | Individual | Checkboxes- Select All That Apply | Mandatory for many USDA programs such as CSFP. The parent types use categories from the U.S. Census. They are decoupled from how USDA categorizes and census reporting, but can be grouped back together for reporting purposes. Default list options are: White/Anglo, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Native American, Asian, Alaska Native/Aleut/Eskimo, Middle Eastern/North African, Pacific Islander, Other, None. Didn't Ask, Prefer Not to Answer, Don't Know are locked. Networks can opt to add/customize additional ethnicity options. |
| Self-Identifies As | Personal | Individual | Checkboxes- Select All That Apply | If the client identifies with any particular group. Networks can customize the options within and assign to parent types. Disability is a default identity under Self-Identifies As - must disable if using the Disability field. |
| Self-Identifies As | Household Members | Individual | Checkboxes- Select All That Apply | If the client identifies with any particular group. Networks can customize the options within and assign to parent types. Disability is a default identity under Self-Identifies As - must disable if using the Disability field. |
| Employment Type | Profile | Individual | Radio Buttons- Select One | Tracks the clients' current employment type (note that only one can be selected). Some networks just track employment through the Income Sources section. Fixed list options are: Post-Secondary Student, Full Time, Part Time, None, Retired, Didn't Ask, Don't Know, Prefer Not to Answer, Other. |
| Income | Monthly Income | Individual/Household | Dropdown- Select All that Apply or Free Text |
Different options for tracking income: Income Sources and Dollar Amount: Income source types and tracked dollar amount |
| Household Social Programs | Monthly Income | Household | Radio Buttons/ Checkboxes- Select All That Apply |
Tracks the social service programs for the entire household. The selections made here can define eligibility for TEFAP and other programs. Includes the option to track whether anyone from the household receives SNAP/food stamps (this question is not customizable). |
| Monthly Household Expenses | Monthly Income | Household | Dropdown- Select All That Apply |
Not common to track this field, but sometimes it is useful if the organization conducts wraparound services with their clients. |
| Dietary Considerations | Dietary Considerations | Household | Checkboxes- Select All That Apply |
This field has its own tab. Can be helpful for food allocation, understanding health needs, common allergens and food preference advocacy. |