  Issue 3.5, May 2023
The Integrated Food Management System (IFMS) replaces the legacy Automated Inventory System (AIS) to support the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). FNS plans to retire AIS in 2023, and Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) who currently use AIS should prepare to transition to IFMS or another system such as Sygnal. For more information, please refer to the Technology Synopsis in the January 2023 FDPIR Connection e-letter.
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In April, Connie Martinez, Director, Pueblo of Acoma Food Distribution Program, and her staff hosted two and a half days of IFMS training and collaboration with the IFMS project team and three other ITOs: Navajo Nation, Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, Inc., and Pueblo of Zuni. The entire team at Pueblo of Acoma were fantastic hosts, and the IFMS team greatly appreciates their hospitality.
This in-person opportunity allowed the project team to see Acoma’s FDPIR operations first-hand and provided additional perspective towards fine-tuning IFMS. The team also had the chance to learn about Navajo Nation's operations, which will help tailor their forthcoming transition program.
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The team is looking forward to more opportunities to visit with ITOs. Please don’t hesitate to contact the Transition Team to discuss in-person training and support.
Pictured above: Paula Joyce, IFMS Transition Manager of CACI, and Connie Martinez, Director of Pueblo of Acoma Food Distribution Program
Pictured at right: Triveni Madduluri, IFMS Transition Team of CACI, and Paula Joyce
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The Transition Team congratulates the Tohono O'odham Nation on their recent transition to IFMS.
The Team is working with five ITOs to transition through October. Interested in learning more about how IFMS can support your program? Contact the Transition Manager today.
IFMS Activity At-a-Glance
There are 100 ITOs using IFMS to conduct food distribution transactions for their communities and manage inventory and household records for FDPIR. To date, nearly 29 million food items have been issued through IFMS.
 Fig 1 - IFMS was being used by 100 ITOs at 139 Sites in May 2023.
As of May 22, 2023, IFMS activity since launch included:
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100 ITOs deployed IFMS with 502 active users
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73,512 individuals in 37,199 households received food
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28,924,447 items issued through 373,345 order transactions
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53,408,173 items updated through 153,093 inventory transactions
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65,459 household certifications updated
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12,477 new households created
Certification Module
Since the launch of the Certification Module in February 2023, IFMS activity also includes the following:
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20,823 total certified active households
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38,901 total participants within active certified households
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2,786 household certifications expiring this month
Release 2.2.1 Highlights
Release 2.2.1 went live on May 12, 2023. The following enhancements were included:
Household Certification
- Organization Administrators and Certification users can conduct a recertification with an existing zero-income application to recertify the household.
- Organization Administrators and Certification users can print the application from the application details print overview screen with zero-income details and view the zero-income questions/responses.
- ITO users can conduct a recertification on a previously certified application to ensure the income records are copied.
- ITO users can print from the certified application detail page with updated income record types and print the application details with all income type records.
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ITO users can view minor household members listed as possible responses to all three SNAP questions so the minor household member can be selected and marked as receiving benefits.
Issuance
- ITO Issuance users will see additional filters on top of the Guide Rate Tree on the Issuance Material Selection screen to filter the list of materials.
- ITO Issuance users can view the same sort order applied to the Guide Rate Tree that is defined on the issuing site's sort material categories tab so that the issuance screen matches the issuance documents.
Organization Management
- ITO Organization Administrator users can view a custom report displaying program recipients to include household members for the previous fiscal year in order to meet reporting requirements (i.e., audits, Tribal Administration, etc.).
Detailed release notes can be found in the IFMS Learning Academy (login required).
Food Package Selections vs. Monthly Shopping List
IFMS provides two options for displaying a list of materials. To access either feature, first select the Households tab on the navigation bar. If needed, use the Search box to locate a specific household; then, click on the household name.
Click on Print Food Package Selections or Print Monthly Shopping List to view the chosen output.
 Fig 2 - The Print Food Package Selections and Print Monthly Shopping List buttons
The Food Package Selections list displays materials by category, subcategory, quantity issued, and quantity remaining for a household. The Food Package Selections print preview displays specific information (household name, size, last issuance date, household ID, and more) to assist users with providing food packages for a household.
 Fig 3 - The Food Package Selections list
The Monthly Shopping List displays available materials by category, subcategory, and allowable food limits for customers to make food order selections. Users can generate and print shopping lists by household size and site from two different areas within IFMS: the household overview screen and the Shopping List tab.
 Fig 4 - The Monthly Shopping List
The categories, subcategories, and materials on Food Package Selections and Monthly Shopping Lists match the sort order customized on the Sort Material Categories tab at each ITO.
For detailed information on shopping lists and food packages, please refer to the FDPIR Issuance Training Materials in the IFMS Learning Academy. For information on sort order, refer to the ITO Organization Administrator User Manual.
IFMS Public Webpage
The IFMS webpage provides announcements, general information about IFMS, and a variety of other resources for the user community and other interested parties. These include:
Training Requests
Need IFMS Training? The ITO IFMS Support Program offers training opportunities for the IFMS user community in the form of new staff member training, refresher training, release enhancement updates, and advanced topics.
ITOs can request a range of topic-specific user trainings for their ITO staff using the IFMS Training Request Form. Training is available for existing as well as new users or those switching roles. Completed forms should be submitted to the IFMS Transition Team.
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