How to Identify and Document

Homelessness in Synergy

Why

All SFUSD schools are responsible for identifying and reporting McKinney-Vento eligible students and families. This helps to:

• Promote awareness of their educational rights,
• Ensure students are automatically eligible for school support/resources (hotspots, school supplies, backpacks, school clothes, etc.) including school benefits
• Provide information on available resources and services offered by the city,
• Inform the allocation of state and federal funding, such as Title IA and the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), to schools and the district.

Background Policies

• Title VII-B of the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act 
• SFUSD Board of Education Resolution No. 175-23A1, and
• California Assembly Bill 2375

How to Use this Guide

This guide supports the proper documentation and reporting of students experiencing homelessness (SAFEH) in Synergy. It offers an overview of practices to initiate and/or improve identification and reporting efforts at your site, and linkages to supportive services.

Key Tools

• Housing Questionnaire - available in 7 languages.
• U-PGM413 Homeless & Foster Students Main Report - Generate this school site report in  Synergy of students with active “homeless program” records.
• Synergy Expanded Access Form -  School admin can use this form to request additional editing privileges to site staff that support the processing of homeless surveys and updating student records in Synergy.

Table of Contents

• How to Plan For the Annual Distribution of the Housing Questionnaire
• How to generate the list of homeless students at your school site
• How to Document in Synergy that a Student is Experiencing Homelessness
• How to Update a Student with an Open “Homeless Program” Record in Synergy

Plan For the Annual Distribution of the Housing Questionnaire

The timeline below is based on the 2024-2025 academic calendar.

How to generate the list of homeless students at your school site

This report will help you to see all students within the school who have reported a housing status that is eligable under Title VII-B of the McKinney Vento Act for support through the SAFEH program. This report will only have students with active and open records and the date they were entered (i.e. identified). Students with active records dated before July 1, 2024 need to be updated.

Watch the how-to video or continue with the following instructions.

To run this report:

1. Log into Synergy and make sure that your focus is set to your school in the upper right corner of the screen
2. Enter U-PGM413 Homeless & Foster Students Main Report in the quick launch to get to the report page

3. Before clicking “Print”, select the “Options” tab and select “Homeless” and then the “Sort/Output” tab and change the File Type to Excel (XLS). This will allow you to import into Google Sheets, shared with CCT members, and sort.

Use this list to prioritize which students/families to outreach to and ensure their eligability/status is up to date, share additional information about their educational rights, and connect to resources available either within the district or within the city of San Francisco.

How to Document in Synergy that a Student is Experiencing Homelessness

The steps below describe how to identify a student as eligible for support under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and update their record in Synergy.

Watch the how-to video or continue with the following instructions.

1. Log into Synergy and make sure that your focus is set to your school in the upper right
2. Enter Student Needs in the quick launch to get to the Student Needs page
3. Search for your student using the unique information you have for them (Name, HO, Birthday).
4. In the “Add Level” section, click the “Programs” drop down and choose “Homeless” to “Add New Program”

5. A new window will will prompt you to enter the following information:

• Enter Date: Use the date the school site was notified. The date must fall within the current school year. Cannot be older than July 1, 2024.
• Grade
• Nighttime Residence: the student’s nighttime time residence type as marked in the housing survey:

• Hotels/Motels - includes SROs
• Temporarily Doubled Up - includes multiple families living in a single family dwelling
• Temporarily Unsheltered - on the street, in cars, parks, abandoned buildings
• Temporary Shelters - living in local shelters or group homes.

• Unaccompanied Youth: check if the student is currently living separately from their parent/legal guardian

6. Click “Save” once you have entered the information above and reviewed the data for accuracy. The record will now appear in the student’s “Student Needs” page and will update the “Homeless” marker in the Student’s “Demographics” page within a week.

How to Update a Student with an Open “Homeless Program” Record in Synergy

Watch the how-to video (timestamp: 1:11) or continue with the following instructions.

1. Log into Synergy and set your focus to your school in the upper right corner
2. Enter Student Needs in the quick launch to get to the correct screen
3. Use unique student information (Name, HO, Student ID number) to find the student.
4. Notice an open record (likely outdated) under Programs titled “Homeless”
5. Select “Show Detail” next to the word Programs to open up the Programs “History”

6. If the student and family no longer experiencing homelessness, add an “Exit Date” (i.e. the date school staff were notified) and click “Save” to close record.
7. If the student and family report a new dwelling type (ex: Hotel/Motel to Temp Sheltered etc.) close the previous record by adding an “Exit Date” (i.e. date staff were notified) and create a new record by using the “+Add” button”. Use the day the school was notified of the new dwelling type as the “Enter Date” for their new record.

Note: Be sure to use the “+ Add” Button below “Detail” to create the new record. You cannot “Add New Program” for Homeless if one already exists (even if the record is closed). If you try to do that, you will receive an error message: