Impact Alabama - A Student Service Initiative

Objective

FocusFirst provides a cost-effective direct response to the vision problems of children who live in urban and rural poverty. Under the supervision of Impact staff, undergraduate and graduate students ensure that children, ages six months to five years, in Head Starts and lower-income daycares are screened for vision problems, using high-tech photo optic scan cameras, and receive subsidized follow-up care.

FocusFirst Accomplishments

machine Since beginning service in 2004, over 950 college students at twenty colleges and universities throughout Alabama have participated with FocusFirst. These students have screened more than 35,000 children in all 67 counties across the state, with approximately 12.4% of the children failing the screenings and receiving subsidized follow-up care as necessary through Sight Savers of Alabama.

FocusFirst Mission

FocusFirst provides a cost-effective direct response to the vision care problems of children who live in urban and rural poverty in Alabama. Under the supervision of Impact staff, undergraduate and graduate students ensure that children, six months to five years of age, in Head Starts and lower-income daycares are screened for vision problems using technologically advanced photo optic scan cameras. All children failing the screenings receive subsidized follow-up care through our partner nonprofit Sight Savers of Alabama.

Community Partners

FocusFirst is a collaborative effort among colleges and universities across Alabama, the staff of Impact, FocusFirst student volunteers, Vision Research Corporation, Sight Savers of Alabama, the Success by Six program of the United Way of Central Alabama, and the Alabama Head Start Association.

Vision Research Corporation (VRC) specializes in the development of screening systems and the implementation of screening programs for the early detection of eye problems in children. Vision Research staff members provide technical assistance to the FocusFirst program, including maintenance of screening equipment, analysis of screening materials, and delivery of results to project beneficiaries.

Contact: Charlotte Hill, 205-942-8011
chill@vision-research.com

Sight Savers of Alabama, a nonprofit organization started in 1997, coordinates the activities of community organizations and eye care professionals in The Children's Eye Care Network, providing comprehensive eye care and subsidized follow-up services for all children who fail the vision screenings conducted by FocusFirst staff and volunteers.

Contact: Lisa Maher Dietz, 251-660-1110
maherdietz@sightsaversofalabama.org

We also wish to thank the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, our primary national sponsor, which has provided tremendous support to our efforts.

State Farm logo

The Need for FocusFirst

Poor vision adversely affects tens of thousands of children in our state each year, leading to a substandard education. This is largely the result of poor public awareness about the importance of eye care in young children and the inability of children to recognize their own vision problems. These problems are heightened in families from economically disadvantaged backgrounds by financial hardship and lack of access to appropriate medical care. According to national and local research studies, “Thousands of Alabama’s children grow up in rural areas of the state, distant from any eye service providers, often with no means of transportation to obtain needed eye care” (Eye Health Needs Assessment for Alabama, April 2000, prepared for The Alabama Eye Institute).

Furthermore, it is well recognized that vision screenings are most effective during the preschool years when early identification and treatment of many conditions can prevent irreversible vision damage or loss. Unfortunately, although many children in daycare, pre-K, and Head Start programs are known to need eye care, many go without it. Despite the importance of early screening and detection, it is estimated that only 21% of preschool children receive comprehensive vision screenings. Further exacerbating this situation, vision problems among children have been linked with behavioral risks, reduced academic performance, and low self-esteem (Johnson R. Division Screening of Academically and Behaviorally At-Risk Students: Journal of Behavioral Optometry, p 7, copyright 1996).

Goals for the Future

In the coming 2008-09 academic year, we anticipate completing a 50% increase in the number of centers reached, screening more than 16,000 children in all 67 counties based on an expansion of staff and increase in community and campus partners.