Collaborating to support healthy young learners- resources, refinements, and results

Early education programs, such as Head Start, are charged with monitoring healthy development in the children they serve to ensure they are ready to learn. The National Head Start Association (NHSA), in review of the support it offered for children’s health, found that additional guidance and resources were needed to ensure strong systems of care for addressing children’s vision in Head Start programs nationally.  To address these needs, NHSA devoted its 2014 Head Start health program’s annual theme to children’s vision, calling it the Year of Children’s Vision (YOCV), and engaged partners from national organizations to execute the needed improvements.  YOCV provides national guidance to staff of Head Start programs and other early childhood educators to standardize approaches to vision screening, improve follow-up for eye care for children who fail vision screening, provide family friendly educational information, and consult with some of the nation’s leading pediatric eye care providers to ensure best practices.  This session will review the process of developing the collaboration, resources committed to YOCV, and achievements leading to improved systems for children’s vision and eye health.  This session will also review specific areas of concern that YOCV addressed for Head Start programs, including parent engagement in children’s health care, increased consistency in screening approaches, and guidance for vision assessment in children younger than 3 years.  Finally, this session will review vision health resources, learning opportunities, and expert assistance that emerged from the YOCV partnership, which can be integrated in school health programs for students of all ages.