| **Stock-based Compensatin, Equity Grants, and Warrants**                      | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   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| **Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            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| Stock-based Compensation, Equity Grants, and Warrants                         | Stock-based compensation and equity grantsStock-based compensation expense All grants of equity represented in these financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2016 were made under the 2006 Long Term Incentive Plan. The 2006 plan expired on February 25, 2016, upon shareholders' approval of the 2016 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan. Future grants of equity will be made under the 2016 Long Term Incentive Plan.  As of September 30, 2016, 1.0 million shares remained available for grant under the 2016 Plan. Options issued under the Plan are designated as either an incentive stock or a non-statutory stock option.  No option may be granted with a term of more than 10 years from the date of grant.  Option awards may depend on achievement of certain performance measures determined by the Compensation Committee of our Board. Shares issued upon option exercise are newly issued common shares.Stock-based compensation expense, shown in the table below, is recorded in general and administrative expenses included in our statement of operations:    (in thousands)   Year Ended Ref September 30,   2016 2015DLH employees $90 $302Non-employee directors(a) 376 177Total stock option expense  $466 $479Ref (a): Equity grants of restricted stock to non-employee directors, in accordance with DLH compensation policy for non-employee directors.    Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense   (in thousands)   Period Ended   September 30, Ref 2016 2015Unrecognized expense for DLH employees(a) $18 $44Unrecognized expense for non-employee directors(b) 24 96Total unrecognized expense  $42 $140Ref (a): Compensation expense for the portion of equity awards for which the requisite service has not been rendered is recognized as the requisite service is rendered. The compensation expense for that portion of awards has been based on the grant-date fair value of those awards as calculated for recognition purposes under applicable guidance. For options that vest based on the Company’s common stock achieving and maintaining defined market prices, the Company values the awards with a binomial model that utilizes various probability factors and other criterion in establishing fair value of the grant. The related compensation expense is recognized over the derived service period determined in the valuation. This expense is expected to be recognized within the next twelve months.Ref (b):  Unrecognized stock expense related to prior years equity grants of restricted stock to non-employee directors, based on performance criteria, in accordance with DLH compensation policy for non-employee directors.  The shares will vest and expense will be recorded within the next twelve months.  Stock option activity for the year ended September 30, 2016:The aggregate intrinsic value in the table below represents the total pretax intrinsic value (i.e., the difference between the Company’s closing stock price on the last trading day of the period and the exercise price, times the number of shares) that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their in the money options on those dates. This amount will change based on the fair market value of the Company’s stock.       (in years)         Weighted       Weighted Average (in thousands)   (in thousands) Average Remaining Aggregate   Number of Exercise Contractual Intrinsic Ref Shares Price Term ValueOptions outstanding, September 30, 2014  2,380 $1.40 7.8 $1,589Canceled  (56) $1.40    Options outstanding, September 30, 2015  2,324 $1.40 6.8 $3,649Granted(a) 25 $2.80    Exercised  (123) $1.40    Options outstanding, September 30, 2016  2,226 $1.43 5.8 $7,581Ref (a): Option grants to DLH employees were valued using a binomial model, under the following criteria:Risk free interest rate1.01%Contractual term10 yearsDividend yield—%Expected lives10 yearsExpected volatility106%Fair value per option$2.55Stock options shares outstanding, vested and unvested for the period ended:   (in thousands)   Number of Shares   September 30, Ref 2016 2015Vested and exercisable(a) 1,909 1,093Unvested(b) 317 1,231Options outstanding  2,226 2,324Ref (a): Weighted average exercise price of vested and exercisable shares was $1.48 and $1.40 at September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Aggregate intrinsic value was $6.4 million and $1.6 million at September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Weighted average contractual term was 6.0 years  and  7.3 years at September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively.Ref (b): Certain awards vest upon satisfaction of certain performance criteria. |

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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 40 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65895303&loc=d3e17540-113929Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 50 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68057994&loc=d3e25284-112666Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SAB Topic 14) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27013229&loc=d3e301413-122809Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5047-113901Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5444-113901
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| - References
No definition available.
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