How Do I Add a New Client?

***This page will update shortly to reflect pending Field Changes rollout that will go live on July 11, 2022. You can scroll the page to preview the updated user manual page below.

If you are creating a new client and don't complete all of the numbered tabs within 72 hours of the profile's creation, the client's profile will be removed from the system. A notification appears each time a user is adding a new client to remind them of this. However, if the client has signed consent, the profile will not be deleted.

Step-by-Step Guide

Click on the "Clients" heading. Click on "Client Search".
To add a new client, click on the "Add New Client" button under the search bar.
You can also create a new client from the Dashboard by clicking

Fill in the fields under each of the tabs listed in the profile.

Personal Tab

Required fields are starred with blue asterisks. If a required field is left blank when attempting to proceed to the next category, you will be prompted to fill in the required information.

"Possible Duplicate" Notification

A notification will now show at the top of the client's page if it's on the Client Duplicates list.

This notification will only appear to users who have the "Duplicate Checker" role.

By clicking on "Merge", the user will ONLY see the client duplicates for that particular client profile, not for the whole agency or network.

Personal Information

This page allows you to collect personal information about all individuals within the household. This includes, but is not limited to, first and last names, date of birth and residential information.

You will be prompted to select the estimated month and year of the client’s first visit. There are three options:

Unknown: the first visit within that household will be saved in the back end as the date of their first recorded visit in Link2Feed
Today: the present date this profile is being created
Specific Date: allows the user to enter the approximate year and month the client actually started visiting, not just within Link2Feed.

SCREENSHOT TO BE UPDATED

A client's "Status" will be set to inactive if they have not visited the organization in six months. If they are to return, their status will be set back to active after a visit has been recorded.

Export

When running an export on the First Visit field, two columns will be shown:

Client First Visit- Personal Tab: this will list the date used based on the selection on the Personal tab

Unknown: since this takes the first visit the user records in the system, it will show that visit date
Today: since this takes the day the user records the client profile, it will show that date
Specific Date: this will show the date the client specifically entered

Client First Visit-Date

Unknown: since this takes the first visit the user records in the system, it will show that visit date
Today: since this takes the day the user records the client profile, it will show that date
Specific Date: this will show the date the client specifically entered

By entering the date of birth, the age will automatically calculate. If this date is estimated, you can check off the "Is Date of Birth Estimated" checkbox underneath this field.

Estimated Date of Birth and Duplicates

Even if you select check off the "Is Date of Birth Estimated" checkbox, the date of birth will still be used for checking for potential duplicates.

Consent

Enabling consent is an optional feature at the agency. See How Do I Track Client Consent? for information on how to enable it for your organization.

Address

When beginning to type in the client's address, the system will generate a list of possible suggestions. As you continue typing, it will narrow down addresses in your area. Occasionally an address may not automatically be generated, possible reasons are:

The address is rural
The address is new

Once you see the address and click on it, the system will automatically complete the street, city, province/state and zip/postal code for you.

For any address not found in the system's location database, a notification will appear asking the user to confirm the address is correct.

After adding the address, you are required to select the type of housing the client.

Housing Type

Emergency Shelter / Mission / Transitional

Evacuee

Other

Own Home

Private Rental

Public (Social) Housing

Undisclosed

Unhoused

With Family / Friends

Youth Home / Shelter

Contact Information

Primary Option

Both the phone and email options automatically choose the first entry if there is only one entered. So, for example, if one phone number and one email address were entered without clicking on the "primary" option, it would allow the user to continue. This is saved in the back end.

Click on the "Add" button to add email addresses and phone numbers of the client.
The drop-down list on the right allows you to choose the category.
The trash can icon allows you to delete the item; hover on it and it will become a red trash can.
The radio button to the left allows you to choose the primary method of contact.

ID Type

The word "Confirmation" will appear beside an individual's "ID Type" to allow you to type in a validation to confirm the piece of ID has been seen.
Examples include: yes/no, the user's initials or the expiry date on the ID.

Drop Down List

If you have a drop-down list with several options, you can use the search bar at the top of the list to type in the first few letters of the word(s) you're looking for. This will narrow down your options and help you to sooner find the list item.

Languages

To record languages spoken by this client, start typing in the name of the language and your options will appear automatically. Click on "Enter" on your keyboard or select the language with your mouse to select it.

When reporting on languages, it's done by client and not by household. So if Mr. Smith's profile says he speaks English, Mrs. Smith's profile won't necessarily say the same in hers. You would have to add that language to her profile.

Chipewan is written as "Chipewan Dene Suline"

If tracking Referred By, Ethnicity and Self-Identifies you will be required to select from the list; these lists are customizable.

Referred By

Client / Friend / Family

Employment Support

Faith Organizations

Housing Support

Mental Health Support

Social Assistance

Other

Ethnicity

White / Anglo

Black / African American

Hispanic / Latino

American Indian / Native American

Asian

Alaska Native / Aleut / Eskimo

Middle-Eastern / North-African

Pacific Islander

Other

None

Undisclosed

Self-Identifies As

Disability

Veteran

Other

None

Undisclosed

Household Members

Click on the "Add" button to add information about other members in the household.

A notification will show at the top right of the screen indicating that your changes are being saved (whether you clicked the "Save" or "Next" button). The notification will turn green when your changes have been successfully saved.

Profile Information

This page allows you to collect more background information on the client first listed on the "Personal" page.

Monthly Income and Expenses

This page requires you to collect income information about the adults in the household.

Click on the "Add"
button to add an income source.
Choose the income source from the drop-down list.
Add as many sources that apply.
You must select the radio button beside ONE income type that the household considers to be the primary income source

If you select an Income Type of "No Income", you won't be able to enter a monthly amount or add any other income types for this individual.

The system will automatically add up the total income amounts of each individual.
Use the radio button to the left of the income source to choose which type is the main primary source for that individual.
Monthly expenses can be added in the same way as income sources.
The system will calculate the household's total income, total expenses and total net income. (This can be removed at the request of a Network Administrator who can submit a support ticket about having Link2Feed Support do this).

Enabling this option would show the "TEFAP Eligibility" check mark automatically (even if income requirement is not met) if ANYONE IN THE HOUSEHOLD has that social program selected.

If enabled, this would apply to all agencies that have a TEFAP program. This is a decision that would need to be made by a Network Administrator. Network Administrators can contact Link2Feed support if they want this tab enabled and would need to specify which social programs should render the client eligible.

Dietary Considerations

Check off any dietary considerations that the individuals of the household feel should be known and noted in their profile.

This is an optional field.

Services

This page provides you with a summary of the household's information. This is the page used to add a visit.

The Personal and Services page will always indicate when the client's next profile review is scheduled for and their last recorded visit date.

Note: the last visit date shown will be based on the programs you have access to (e.g. if a pantry visit was recorded on January 15 and a CSFP visit was recorded on January 30, if you don't have access to the CSFP program, the last visit date will say January 15).

Search

The "Search" text box can be used to filter visits on the client's Services page. For example, you can search for visits when particular programs were accessed or particular provisions were provided. Type in part of the program or food/item provided in the search box to filter your results.

You can also see a list of the client's previous visits and its details

Visit Date: the date of the visit
Program: they type of service accessed
Location: the location of the visit
Provided: amount of food provided, including specific foods and/or items, if applicable
Click on the "View" (folder) icon to see details on a particular visit
Click on the "Edit" (pencil) icon to make any changes to the provisions or quantity of food provided to the household

Permissions

Not all users will have permission within their security profile to edit a visit. If you do not have access to edit a visit, please contact your network administrator to edit the visit or provide you with the access to do it.

See "How do I Add a Visit" and click on your appropriate module to learn more details of how to add a visit.

Notes

This page allows you to add a new note to the household's profile.

Click on the "Add a Note"
button to create a new note.

Type your note.
Check off the checkbox beside "Mark this note as an alert" to set the note as urgent. This will display the note on the top of each page of the client's profile.
Checking off "Mark this note as private" will restrict the note to be seen only be users within your organization.
Click on the "Save"
button to save changes or "Cancel" to discard the changes.

On the Notes page:

Information will show indicating who wrote the note and when
Edit: allows you to edit the note, including the text and alert status
Delete: allows you to delete the note
the "!" notification
shows that the note has an alert status
Any notes entered by a user within your distribution network can now be edited or deleted by any other user within your distribution network.

Notes

The "Notes" feature can also be found at the bottom of the page when adding a visit. You can add a note and set it as an alert status in the same way as a regular note. These notes will appear on the Notes page.

Activity

An Activity tab has been created to show the history of all the changes made to a client's profile. The tab will also include the date the profile was created and when it was last updated. It will appear after the Notes tab.

Changes that would be logged include:

First Name (For all HH Members)
Last Name (For all HH Members)
Date of Birth
Marital Status
Address (Includes City, State, County, Zip)
Housing Type
Household members added
Household members removed
Household members moved
Household members linked
Income
Expenses

***PENDING USER MANUAL CHANGES BELOW REFLECT FIELD CHANGES ROLLOUT - EFFECTIVE JULY 11, 2022

If you are creating a new client and don't complete all of the numbered tabs within 72 hours of the profile's creation, the client's profile will be removed from the system. A notification appears each time a user is adding a new client to remind them of this. However, if the client has signed consent, the profile will not be deleted.

Step-by-Step Guide

Click on the "Clients" heading. Click on "Client Search".
To add a new client, click on the "Add New Client" button under the search bar.
You can also create a new client from the Dashboard by clicking

Fill in the fields under each of the tabs listed in the profile.

Personal Tab

Required fields are starred with blue asterisks. If a required field is left blank when attempting to proceed to the next category, you will be prompted to fill in the required information.