Giving Children the Power of Sight Through Public/Private - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Giving Children the Power of Sight Through Public/Private Collaborations & Partnerships Presented by: Patricia Bledsoe, MBA Stephen L. Williams, M.Ed., MPA, Director

Objectives  Discuss public-private partnership for vision services to school age children.  Discuss the connection between student’s school performance and resolving vision problems.  Discuss the importance of service learning opportunities.

Kids Vision Partnership  A collaboration with Houston Health Department (HHD) with public and private partners to provide free eye exams and glasses to school aged children  Two programs o OneSight, a national program o See to Succeed, the local initiative

OneSight  A foundation of the Luxottica group  HHD/OneSight partnership started in 2007  Provides free eye exams and glasses for 1-2 weeks in Houston (1500-2000 children per week)

The Need in the Houston Area  484,846 children screened in Harris and Fort Bend County schools in 2013-2014*  52,562 failed screening*  20,332 children with unresolved vision problems at end of school year* *Texas Department of State Health Services Annual Vision Screening  Report 2013-2014 for Region 6 Public Schools

Why Address the Need  Impaired vision affects ability of children to learn  80% of learning in a child’s first 12 years comes through the eyes  25% children in the U.S. have a vision problem, 20% need glasses  Among juvenile offenders, 78% have a vision problem  Prisons forecast beds needed in 10 years based on 3rd grade reading levels

90% of Children Who Need Glasses DON’T Have Them *According to the Optometric Clinical Practice Guideline. Pediatric Eye and Vision Examinations. St. Louis, MO. American Optometric Association 2nd edition, 2002

Meet Alexander Alexander is 12 years old and attends a Houston  area Charter school He never had glasses before attending See to  Succeed in 6 th grade Over the summer his glasses were stolen while  he was swimming at his apartment pool. His parents were unable to replace the eye wear and he started 7 th grade without his glasses His school nurse arranged for him to come to See  to Succeed again in January 2014 after noticing he did not have his glasses any longer His grades suffered the first semester of 7 th grade  due to his not being able to see the board without straining

Alexander’s Vision Below is a simulation of Alexander’s non -corrected vision Right Eye Left Eye Corrected http://www.eye-sim.com/

Enormous Short- and Long-Term Impact BETTER INCREASED FEWER STRONGER VISION FOR LITERACY & SOCIETAL WORKFORCE KIDS ISSUES EDUCATION & ECONOMY

The Director’s Vision  Create a locally supported initiative to expand service capacity  Provide services at a high volume to address level of need  Provide free eye exams and glasses to 10,000 school aged children in need

Turning the Vision Into Reality  Assemble resources to expand capacity  Sell the vision and mission  Build Relationships  Provide infrastructure support

The Mission  Provide free eye exams and glasses to 10,000 children per school year  Replicate OneSight’s high volume service delivery model which o Maximizes the number of children served o Removes barriers of to access to care

Build Relationships Specialized Funding: Personnel: Kid’s Vision Free Lab Doctors, Optical Clinical Director, Manager, Strategic Work Optometrists, Frames, UH Staff & Partnerships Lenses, (10,000 glasses Students,, Pretest Manager per year) Equipment, & Students Supplies

Build Relationships for a Purpose Funding: Doctors, Optical ALF Manager, HDHHS Essilor Margaret & Berkley Eye San Jacinto Frames, Stephen Vision Joel Center College Williams Foundation Lenses, Shannon Pretest Manager & Students Over 25,000 Glasses Free Lab HDHHS NUF Work (10,000 Stephen Walmart Williams Center Delivered Since 2012 glasses per year) Specialized Personnel: Clinical Director, HDHHS University Stephen Optometrists, UH of Houston Williams Staff & Students,, Equipment, Supplies

See to Succeed  Established Planning Team  Created “See to Succeed” Program  Conducted Pilot Project – – Spring 2011, – 422 children seen during the week

Organizing & Managing Resources  80 percent of the project resources are donated from school districts, cities, government agencies, colleges and universities, non-profit organizations and businesses  $462,000 annual cash cost, $2.3 million in in-kind services and donated glasses

Organizing & Managing Resources  Executive sponsors collaborative  HHD Project Manager & Infrastructure Support  Interagency Operations planning team  Clinics managed with National Incident Management Structure

Results  (6) one week See to Succeed clinics per school year and (1) one week OneSight clinic  Service capacity expanded from 422 in Spring 2011 in one week to 2000 per week in 2014  Over 8,000 children examined in 2014-2015

Results  Improved performance on state academic assessments *  Improved attendance rates*  Prevention of serious eye problems * http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/8269/2011_2012% 20One%20Sight%20Evaluation.pdf

Success – Critical Factors  Partnerships with established foundations such as OneSight  Support from HHD  Multiple funding and volunteer sources

Success – Critical Factors  College and University partnerships uses service learning with program students  Business partners that donate staff, equipment, glasses and other supplies  Commitment from local school districts

Lessons Learned  Set a vision that can be shared  Be clear about the mission  Sell the mission rather than requesting resources  Identify partners who share the vision and commit to the mission

Lessons Learned  Allow partners to determine where they best fit  Provide support from a lead agency to provide continuity and ongoing coordination  Be flexible and continuously improve the process  Recognize and value the work of each partners

The Kids Vision for Life Houston Area Coalition  Consists of organizations who are committed to providing vision services for children  Created strategic plan for the Houston area  Vision: Eye care for every child  Mission: To provide children in need with the power of sight for lifelong achievement

For More Information Contact Patricia Bledsoe, MBA Patricia.Bledsoe@houstontx.gov 713-449-8937 http://www.houstontx.gov/health/KidsVision/index .html http://houstonhealthfoundation.org