United States
The Problem
- In the United States, 2 million children suffer from uncorrected refractive errors every year; yet in-school vision screening is largely nonexistent in underserved communities, leaving countless cases of refractive error undiagnosed and its sufferers unable to achieve their academic potential.
- Without eyeglasses, children with refractive error struggle in school, unable to clearly focus on the chalkboard, their textbooks, or on classroom presentations. Poor vision may even lead a child to drop out of school as a result of chronically poor academic performance.
What HKI Is Doing
Helen Keller International began ChildSight®, its domestic initiative, as a pilot program in New York City in 1994. The vision correction program "brings education into focus™" by providing free, on-site vision screenings, prescription eyeglasses, and referrals for further care (as needed) for children living in poverty in the United States.
- Since its inception, ChildSight® has screened over 1.4 million students in the U.S. and has provided free eyeglasses to over 186,000 of the nation's most vulnerable children.
- The annual surveys that ChildSight® conducts reveal that 80% of students who participate in the project across the country said that their ChildSight® eyeglasses "helped them with their schoolwork." 85% of teachers surveyed reported significant improvements in class participation and grades among students who had their vision corrected with ChildSight® eyeglasses.
- In Cleveland, one of the poorest cities in the U.S., HKI's dynamic partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) has resulted in over 100,000 students receiving vision screening and more than 10,000 of these students receiving free prescription eyeglasses. Buoyed by generous local support, ChildSight® has expanded its reach to serve additional low-income students in Greater Cleveland, including East Cleveland public schools and now, GED programs.
- ChildSight® serves children in six states: California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Ohio. Please click on the state for more details about each site.
California
In the 2010-2011 academic year, ChildSight® Los Angeles provided 15,660 free vision screenings and 1,633 pairs of free eyeglasses to students within the Los Angeles, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lennox, and Montebello Unified School Districts. In the summer months, ChildSight® serves children in Boys & Girls Clubs in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Hollywood, Long Beach, Watts/Willowbrook and Whittier. ChildSight® thrives on its ability to deliver a cost-effective solution that has a tremendous impact on the population served. The following teacher's comment highlights this impact:
"The ChildSight® program has enabled my students to see the lessons on the board at their assigned seat (sometimes in the back area) without having to move and sit in front of the board which in the past blocked the view of students trying to copy the data on the board. Thank you ChildSight®!"
ChildSight® Los Angeles
Jorge Valdez − Program Manager
Suva Intermediate School
6660 East Suva Street, Room C4-B
Bell Gardens, CA 90201
Telephone: +1 (562) 927-2679 x6258
Fax: +1 (562) 806-5132
Please click here for a detailed description (PDF) of the Los Angeles program.
Connecticut
In the 2010-2011 academic year, ChildSight® Connecticut screened 7,642 public middle-school students in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and New London. Of these, we provided free corrective eyeglasses to 1,881 students. Since the economic downturn of 2008, the gap in access to health and vision care services between Connecticut's affluent and most poverty-stricken populations continues to widen. HKI is working to ensure our services remain strong in Connecticut, which boast a 25% rate of refractive error in the children seen through the program this past year. The impact of the program is aptly articulated in the words of this teacher from New London:
"Many of my scholars were previously unable to see the board and read aloud or complete assignments displayed there because of sight issues. When they wear the glasses, they are much more likely to participate (and be robbed of the excuses that come from having a hard time seeing the assignments!)"
ChildSight® Connecticut
Nancy Prail, Director of ChildSight®
United Church on the Green
323 Temple Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Telephone/Fax: + 1 (203) 776-5221
Please click here for a detailed description (PDF) of the Connecticut program.
New Jersey
ChildSight® New Jersey screened 10,395 students in Newark, Jersey City, Irvington, Orange, East Orange, Passaic and Plainfield public schools in the 2010-2011 academic year. Of these, 1,995 students received free corrective eyeglasses from the program. In addition to the public schools, ChildSight® New Jersey continues to serve children within selected Newark charter schools where a significant percentage of students exhibit economic need and limited access to basic vision care services.
The following comment from a Newark teacher highlights the impact of the program:
"Many of my students felt embarrassed because they could not see well. Now that they have eyeglasses, I see a great deal of improved self-esteem. I have a great bunch of outgoing students these days!"
ChildSight® New Jersey
Kindal Beckley − Program Manager
Harold Wilson Middle School
190 Mohammed Ali Avenue
Newark, NJ 07108-2141
Telephone: + 1 (973) 242-1619
Fax: + 1 (973) 242-5005
Please click here for a detailed description (PDF) of the New Jersey program.
New Mexico
ChildSight® New Mexico continues to see an exceptionally high rate of refractive error. The program screened 4,764 children in Gallup-McKinley County, including children living on the Navajo Reservation in the 2010-2011 academic year. Of these, ChildSight® provided 1,551 children with free eyeglasses. Among the three types of refractive error, astigmatism tends to afflict Native American children at a relatively high rate, compared to other groups in the United States; last year, we provided eyeglasses to 33% of the students we saw through the program.
Compounding this high prevalence is the critical level of rural poverty within the Navajo Reservation. ChildSight® remains a bright spot in this community where vision care is neither affordable nor accessible to the vast majority of families.
By supplying this basic learning tool, ChildSight® helps to ensure these students can take advantage of the educational opportunities available to them. Often, the most compelling iteration of the program's impact can be heard in the words of the teachers:
"The ChildSight® program has been instrumental in both screening students and providing glasses to students. Vision services are cumbersome to obtain through Indian Health Services, and so it is often an overlooked health service. Your program is a wonderful service to our communities. If only more states provided such easy and free access for underserved populations…thank you for the wonderful work you do!"
ChildSight® New Mexico
Angie Holtsoi − Program Manager
P.O. Box 1898
Gallup, NM 87305
Telephone/Fax: + 1 (505) 863-1946
Please click here for a detailed description (PDF) of the New Mexico program.
New York
Our largest program, ChildSight® New York, screened 30,128 students throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens and delivered 6,499 pairs of free eyeglasses to those students in need, during the 2010-2011 academic year.
Building on our success serving public and parochial schools, ChildSight® began serving students attending GED/alternative learning programs, which targets adolescents who have derailed from the traditional school setting. This past year, ChildSight® New York screened 332 GED/alternative learning students and provided 103 pairs for free eyeglasses to students who needed them, underscoring the significant need for vision care services among this marginalized population.
The positive effects brought on by new eyeglasses provided by ChildSight® New York is most often heard in the words of the program's beneficiaries:
"Thank you so much for these great glasses. They fit me perfectly and are helping me read the board better than before. You have my thanks and a prayer that you will help kids get free glasses for years to come." – Student, Brooklyn, NY
ChildSight® New York
Tonya Daniels − Senior Program Manager
352 Park Avenue South, Suite 1200
New York, NY 10010
Telephone: + 1 (212) 532-0544 x817
Fax: + 1 (212) 532-6014
Please click here for a detailed description (PDF) of the New York program.
Ohio
In the 2010-2011 academic year, ChildSight® Ohio provided free, on-site vision screenings for 11,913 students within Cleveland and East Cleveland public schools, and provided 2,450 of those students with the free prescription eyeglasses they needed. Of the teachers we surveyed in past years, 72% reported observing a positive influence on academic performance, classroom participation, and classroom behavior among students who received eyeglasses from ChildSight®.
Thanks to the support of the Cleveland Foundation and other local funders, the ChildSight® Ohio program will begin a pilot program in the 2011-2012 academic year, targeting the inner-ring suburbs of Cleveland, as well as a GED/alternative learning centers in Greater Cleveland.
As one of the Cleveland public school teachers simply iterates:
"They can simply see! The students who wear their glasses from your program are much more willing to participate & feel more confident & engaged in class."
ChildSight® Ohio
Ginna Jones - Program Manager
P.O. Box 201817
Shaker Heights, OH 44120
Telephone: + 1 (216) 409-8641
Fax: + 1 (216) 916-4327
Please click here for a detailed description (PDF) of the Ohio program.
Texas
In the 2010-2011 academic year, ChildSight® screened 5,075 students and delivered 604 pairs of eyeglasses to students who needed them in El Paso County. In addition to being the fourth poorest County in the U.S., El Paso has the highest proportion of uninsured adults and children. The impact of ChildSight® is clear. It can be heard in the words of a partnering school principal in El Paso:
"ChildSight® has been providing services to the students of Ann M. Garcia-Enriquez Middle School for over eight years. The faculty, staff and students have benefited greatly from the eye exams and eyewear that are provided to our students each year. Many, if not most, of our students cannot afford either eye exams or the cost of the eyewear that so many of them need. Teachers appreciate the help these students receive as it improves classroom performance and many times helps with student behavior, as students who have problems seeing the board sometimes develop discipline issues. The services provided by this organization are invaluable to our community and we greatly appreciate all that they have done for our students."
This year, HKI made the difficult decision to close the ChildSight® Texas program. We are grateful to all of our staff and community support received in the El Paso community for over 11 years.
