The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene School Vision Program: A description of program expansion

OBJECTIVE: This study describes how the School Vision Program (SVP) operates in NYC Public Schools, and how it has expanded to provide screening, follow-up, eye exams, and even glasses to more students in recent years. METHODS: Using administrative data from the SVP, we analyze a population sample of all public-school students with non-missing demographic variables in grades Pre-K through 12, focusing on the most recent year of data, 2018–19. We tabulate rates of screening and other results across students by grade and student characteristics, highlighting the expansion of SVP in community schools beginning in 2015–16. RESULTS: The SVP screens about 87% of students in Pre-K through 1(st) Grade each school year. Of the 22% of screened students who failed the screening in 2018–19, 69% received follow-up efforts, and 39% completed eye exams. Among students with completed eye exams, 13% of students in Pre-K through 1(st) grade were diagnosed with amblyopia, and 70% needed glasses. Less advantaged students in terms of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were less likely to pass vision screenings and less likely to receive eye exams after failing the screening. The SVP’s expansion to all grades in community schools and its provision of eye exams and glasses increased the rate of eye exams to 90% of students with a failed vision screening and distributed glasses to over 22,000 students in grades Pre-K to 12 in 2018–19. CONCLUSION: The expansion of SVP services in community schools suggests large potential benefits from school districts connecting students who fail vision screenings directly to eye doctors. Otherwise, low rates of follow-up eye exams in younger grades can lead to unidentified and unmet need for vision services in older grades, especially among disadvantaged students.