diff --git a/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/rjsf/carbon_theme/BaseInputTemplate/BaseInputTemplate.tsx b/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/rjsf/carbon_theme/BaseInputTemplate/BaseInputTemplate.tsx
index 874b3b61..4ecbb0dd 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/rjsf/carbon_theme/BaseInputTemplate/BaseInputTemplate.tsx
+++ b/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/rjsf/carbon_theme/BaseInputTemplate/BaseInputTemplate.tsx
@@ -6,10 +6,15 @@ import {
   StrictRJSFSchema,
   WidgetProps,
 } from '@rjsf/utils';
+import { parse } from 'date-fns';
 
 import { useCallback } from 'react';
 import { useDebouncedCallback } from 'use-debounce';
-import { DATE_FORMAT_CARBON, DATE_FORMAT_FOR_DISPLAY } from '../../../config';
+import {
+  DATE_FORMAT,
+  DATE_FORMAT_CARBON,
+  DATE_FORMAT_FOR_DISPLAY,
+} from '../../../config';
 import DateAndTimeService from '../../../services/DateAndTimeService';
 import { getCommonAttributes } from '../../helpers';
 
@@ -73,8 +78,12 @@ export default function BaseInputTemplate<
   );
 
   const addDebouncedOnChangeDate = useDebouncedCallback(
-    (target: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
-      _onChange(target);
+    (fullObject: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
+      fullObject.target.value =
+        DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+          fullObject.target.value
+        );
+      _onChange(fullObject);
     },
     // delay in ms
     1000
@@ -93,6 +102,8 @@ export default function BaseInputTemplate<
     // it should in be y-m-d when it gets here.
     let dateValue: string | null = value;
     if (value || value === 0) {
+      // it would be good if we could compare against the length of the desired format but that doesn't work in all cases and causes some issues.
+      // 10 seems to be a good value check against.
       if (value.length < 10) {
         dateValue = value;
       } else {
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.test.tsx b/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.test.tsx
index 6eb38828..95965bf8 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.test.tsx
+++ b/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.test.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ test('it can keep the correct date when converting seconds to date', () => {
     DateAndTimeService.convertSecondsToFormattedDateString(1666325400);
   expect(dateString).toEqual('2022-10-21');
 });
+
 test('it can properly format a duration', () => {
   expect(DateAndTimeService.formatDurationForDisplay('0')).toEqual('0s');
   expect(DateAndTimeService.formatDurationForDisplay('60')).toEqual('1m');
@@ -20,3 +21,82 @@ test('it can properly format a duration', () => {
     '365d 12m 45s'
   );
 });
+
+test('it can get the correct date format from string', () => {
+  const expectedDateString = '2024-03-04';
+  const newDateFormat = 'dd-MMM-yyyy';
+
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      expectedDateString
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '03-04-2024'
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      'March 4, 2024'
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      'mar-4-2024'
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '03/04/2024'
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '03.04.2024'
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '04-03-2024',
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      'March 4, 2024',
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '4-mar-2024',
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '4 March 2024',
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '04/03/2024',
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      '04.03.2024',
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+  expect(
+    DateAndTimeService.attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat(
+      expectedDateString,
+      newDateFormat
+    )
+  ).toEqual(expectedDateString);
+});
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.tsx b/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.tsx
index 107d21f5..e9f1153a 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.tsx
+++ b/spiffworkflow-frontend/src/services/DateAndTimeService.tsx
@@ -147,6 +147,46 @@ const secondsToDuration = (secNum: number) => {
   return duration;
 };
 
+const attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat = (
+  dateString: string,
+  targetDateFormat?: string
+) => {
+  let dateFormat = targetDateFormat;
+  if (!dateFormat) {
+    dateFormat = DATE_FORMAT;
+  }
+  let newDateString = dateString;
+  // if the date starts with 4 digits then assume in y-m-d format and avoid all of this
+  if (dateString.length >= 10 && !dateString.match(/^\d{4}/)) {
+    // if the date format should contain month names or abbreviations but does not have letters
+    // then attempt to parse in the same format but with digit months instead of letters
+
+    if (!dateString.match(/[a-zA-Z]+/) && dateFormat.match(/MMM/)) {
+      const numericalDateFormat = dateFormat.replaceAll(/MMM*/g, 'MM');
+      const dateFormatRegex = new RegExp(
+        numericalDateFormat
+          .replace('dd', '\\d{2}')
+          .replace('MM', '\\d{2}')
+          .replace('yyyy', '\\d{4}')
+      );
+      const normalizedDateString = dateString.replaceAll(/[.-/]+/g, '-');
+      if (normalizedDateString.match(dateFormatRegex)) {
+        const newDate = parse(
+          normalizedDateString,
+          dateFormat.replaceAll(/MMM*/g, 'MM'),
+          new Date()
+        );
+        newDateString = convertDateObjectToFormattedString(newDate) || '';
+      }
+    } else {
+      // NOTE: do not run Date.parse with y-m-d formats since it returns dates in a different timezone from other formats
+      const newDate = new Date(Date.parse(`${dateString}`));
+      newDateString = convertDateObjectToFormattedString(newDate) || '';
+    }
+  }
+  return newDateString;
+};
+
 const formatDurationForDisplay = (value: any) => {
   if (value === undefined) {
     return undefined;
@@ -193,6 +233,7 @@ const DateAndTimeService = {
   REFRESH_INTERVAL_SECONDS,
   REFRESH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
 
+  attemptToConvertUnknownDateStringFormatToKnownFormat,
   convertDateAndTimeStringsToDate,
   convertDateAndTimeStringsToSeconds,
   convertDateObjectToFormattedHoursMinutes,