How to correct length of time in program errors
Author: Betty | Date Created: December 22, 2025
What this is
This article is to help understand and correct Length of Time in Program errors. These issues can cause errors and data quality issues on federal reports like System Performance (SPM), Point-Time (PIT) and Housing Inventory (HIC) Counts.
What you need to know
It’s unusual—but not impossible—for someone to stay in an emergency shelter for more than 90 days, or in transitional housing or rapid rehousing for more than 730 days. When a client’s stay is longer than these limits, reports will flag it as a possible data quality issue. This doesn’t always mean something is wrong, but it’s a sign to double-check the data.
Maximum lengths of stay used for data checks:
- Emergency Shelter (ES): 90 days
- Transitional Housing (TH) and Rapid Re-Housing (RRH): 730 days
Follow these steps
How to fix this issue:
This might be a real situation or a data entry mistake. Look at the following:
- Check the Project Start and Exit Dates. Make sure the dates are accurate. If they aren’t, update them. Use the Common Data Checker as a quick way to look at enrollment dates.
- If the Exit Date is missing, determine whether the client should have been exited. If so, enter the correct Exit Date.
- Make sure the correct project was used. If the wrong project was selected, you will need to deleted the enrollment and create a new enrollment in the correct project
- Check whether the stay was entered according to your workflow. If the stay doesn’t match how your program normally records entries/exits, contact the Helpdesk for help.
- If the dates are correct and everything matches your workflow, you don’t need to take any further action.