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Policy

All Head Start and Early Head Start children (above 9 months of age) will receive a vision screening within the first 45 days of the child’s first day of school using the Pediavision Screening Instrument. Parents will be notified of results. Follow up plans will be developed by the Health and Safety Consultant (HSC) with input from Optometrists and medical providers.

Procedure

  1. The Health and Safety Consultant (HSC) has primary responsibility for assuring that the vision screening is completed within the 45 day time period. Only the HSC or the Health Safety Specialist (HSS)  will perform vision screenings using the pediavision screening instrument.
  2. The HSC and HSS will document vision screening results in Child Plus.
  3. If a child enters the program with eyeglasses, a vision screening will be attempted with the pediavision screening instrument and the results will be entered into Child Plus by HSC stating that child has glasses. A follow up plan will be written by the HSC to assure that the child is getting annual evaluations by an optometrist.
  4. The Teacher and Family Support Coordinator (FSC) are responsible for assuring that vision screening results are shared with all parents -whether the results were within normal limits (pass) or indicated a need for referral (refer) to optometry.
  5. Whenever the pediavision screening results indicate vision problems, the HSC will document the results in Child Plus using pediavision results parameters and develop a follow up plan. The HSC will also email the full report to teacher and FSC so that a copy of the entire report can be provided to the family. For DLL families – the results should be translated by a HS interpreter.
  6. If a HS family needs assistance with referrals to optometry the teacher or FSC should contact the HSC for support (preferably via email).
  7. Re-enrolling children, who have passed a vision screening the year prior, should be re-screened in their second year of Head Start. If a child is transitioning to Kindergarten and has not been screened with pediavision in the past six months, attempts should be made to have child re-screened prior to their transition to Kindergarten.
  8. HSC will consult with HSAC (Health Services Advisory Committee) Pediatricians and Optometrist to evaluate the effectiveness of our vision screening methods and to ensure that there is no unnecessary duplication of efforts.

Results Parameters for the Pediavision Screening Instrument

  1. Near-sightedness (myopia)
  2. Far-sightedness (hyperopia)
  3. Unequal refractive power (anisometropia)
  4. Blurred vision, eye structure problem (astigmastism)
  5. Pupil size deviations (anisocoria)
  6. eye misaligment (strabismus)

This policy complies with Head Start Performance Standards 45 CFR Section 1304.20.

It was approved by Policy Council in January 2013.

Updated 08/09/2005. August 2009. January 2013. July 2013. April 2021

© 1995-2021. Head Start of Lane County. All rights reserved.

REVIEWED: April 2021