How Fresno Schools Are Helping Students Get Back On Their Feet

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, October 10, 2025…

• For many families experiencing homelessness, school can be a difficult hurdle to clear. Chronic absenteeism is higher, and graduation rates are lower among homeless students. But the Fresno Unified School District has been working to combat this problem. And the efforts appear to be working.
• Doctors at Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles County say administrators are allowing federal immigration agents to interfere in medical decisions and block doctors from properly treating detained patients who need emergency care.

Fresno Unified Working To Combat Problem Of Homelessness Among Students

Only about 1% of Fresno County students were homeless in 2024. It was the lowest rate of homelessness among students for any county in the state. A lot of it is in thanks to a project from Fresno Unified School District.

The pilot project provides housing for 20 families experiencing homelessness. Permanently. Veronica Sanchez takes a city bus to pick up her kids from school every day. She doesn’t have access to a car. Her family had been homeless since 2018. But in April, they moved into a three-bedroom apartment in North Fresno. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted and I get to finally have,” she said.

This is the latest tool the district is using to combat homelessness among its students. And those efforts appear to be working. The district also offers food, clothes, and transportation through the program – Project Access. And Fresno Unified has also added social workers to elementary schools too.

At A Boyle Heights Hospital, ICE Agents Call The Shots

Doctors at Adventist Health White Memorial hospital in Boyle Heights told LAist that hospital administrators are allowing federal immigration agents to interfere in medical decisions and block doctors from properly treating detainees who need emergency care.

Administrators at White Memorial have told doctors not to call a detained patient’s family members, even to find out what type of medication they’re on or what conditions they have, doctors told LAist. Hospital leaders also have told doctors to allow immigration agents to remain by a detained patient’s side, even during consultations, inhibiting frank discussions between doctors and their patients and potentially violating patient privacy laws. Doctors say this is not typical protocol for any patients, including those brought in by local police or sheriff’s deputies.

These doctors are equally concerned about their inability to ensure follow-up care for patients released to the ICE processing facility known as B-18 in downtown L.A., where critics say some detainees have been held for days on end with no proper beds or medical care.