giving children the power of sight through public/private...

Stephen L. Williams, M.Ed., MPA, Director

Giving Children the Power of Sight Through Public/Private Collaborations & Partnerships

Presented by: Patricia Bledsoe, MBA

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.

Objectives

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

Kids Vision Partnership

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)

OneSight

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

The Need in the Houston Area

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

Why Address the Need

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 6th 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 7th 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 7th grade

due to his not being able to see the board without

straining

Alexander’s Vision

Left Eye Right Eye http://www.eye-sim.com/

Below is a simulation of Alexander’s non-corrected vision

Corrected

Enormous Short- and Long-Term Impact

BETTER VISION FOR

KIDS

STRONGER WORKFORCE & ECONOMY

INCREASED LITERACY & EDUCATION

FEWER SOCIETAL

ISSUES

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

The Director’s Vision

Assemble resources to expand capacity

Sell the vision and mission

Build Relationships

Provide infrastructure support

Turning the Vision Into Reality

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

The Mission

Funding: Doctors, Optical

Manager, Frames, Lenses,

Pretest Manager & Students

Specialized Personnel:

Clinical Director, Optometrists,

UH Staff & Students,,

Equipment, Supplies

Kid’s Vision Strategic

Partnerships

Free Lab Work

(10,000 glasses per year)

Build Relationships

Funding: Doctors, Optical

Manager, Frames, Lenses,

Pretest Manager & Students

Specialized Personnel:

Clinical Director, Optometrists, UH Staff & Students,,

Equipment, Supplies

Free Lab Work (10,000

glasses per year)

HDHHS Stephen Williams

ALF Margaret &

Joel Shannon

Berkley Eye Center

San Jacinto College

Essilor Vision

Foundation

NUF Walmart Center

HDHHS Stephen Williams

University of Houston

HDHHS Stephen Williams

Build Relationships for a Purpose

Over 25,000 Glasses Delivered Since 2012

Established Planning Team

Created “See to Succeed” Program

Conducted Pilot Project –

– Spring 2011,

– 422 children seen during the week

See to Succeed

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

Organizing & Managing Resources

(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

Results

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

Success – Critical Factors

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

Lessons Learned

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

The Kids Vision for Life Houston Area Coalition

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