How Do I Determine if a Pair is a Duplicate and Which Profile to Keep?

Created by Stephanie McLean (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 24 Nov, 2020

NOTE: Users will need the Duplicate Checker role in their user profile to access this part of the system. 

Outside of confirming matches by name, there are a few other ways to determine if a client is a duplicate:

  1. Check for profile completeness: How much of the profile has been completed? If one is missing a lot of information, there is a chance that it was added in a rush or that information was taken from a paper form.

  2. Look at the “Last Updated” date and “Household Visits”: This will let you know the last time someone served the client under each profile. You will likely want to keep the profile that has been updated most recently.

  3. Look at “Date of Birth”: Check to see if the month and day were reversed (Example 1989-07-10 vs. 1989-10-07)

  4. Look at Housing Type: Housing type can be a clue about the person’s current situation. Play close attention to situations where the housing type says “Homeless” or ‘With Friends/Family” as there is a chance the duplicate could have been created when they are transitioning their housing.

  5. Look at other household members:
    • If there is only one client in the household, it’s easy to match profiles one-to-one. If there are other household members, determine how many (if any) are a direct match.