Early Detection of Vision Impairments for Children (EDVI) Act

The EDVI Act would establish the first national-level program in the United States specifically aimed at improving children’s vision and eye health.

In the United States, there is no program that specifically addresses children’s vision and eye health. The EDVI Act would change that by providing grants for states and communities to improve systems of care that will ensure that every child in the United States has the chance for early identification and intervention for potential vision problems.

Passing this important legislation would signal a national commitment to prevent blindness and preserve sight in our nation’s children and acknowledge that vision and eye health is an important aspect of children’s health, development, and wellbeing that will set the foundation for a child to grow into adulthood with healthy eyesight.

Background

A child’s vision develops and changes from birth through childhood. Because of these changes, a child should be screened regularly, referred to eye care, and receive any needed treatment and follow-up to care to ensure vision problems are caught early and permanent vision loss is avoided.

While early detection and intervention for vision disorders in children are part of national goals and health care standards, there is currently no existing program in the United States that specifically addresses children’s vision and eye health while much has been invested in public health efforts that support other important aspects of child health and development— including children’s hearing and oral health. Children deserve the same level of attention to address their vision and eye health.

Like many programs that address many aspects of children’s health and well-being, states and communities are best positioned to implement a public health system of care for children’s vision and eye health through community, early learning, and school-based health approaches. However, state laws to address children’s vision vary widely in approaches and often lack protocols for referrals to eye care providers and follow-up to ensure eye care was received. States may also lack the necessary resources to modernize, improve, or implement systems of care that meet the ongoing needs of their youngest citizens. As a result, significant disparities exist in children’s vision and eye health outcomes and access to eye care across the United States.

The EDVI Act is a bipartisan legislative solution modeled after other successful public health programs that have demonstrated strong success in improving children’s health outcomes.

Key Provisions of the EDVI Act

The goal of EDVI is to ensure that every child with a possible vision problem is identified and connected to appropriate eye care, to support early childhood professionals, health care providers, and families with updated and evidence-based vision screening methods and established referrals to care, and advance follow-up protocols to ensure that children who need eye care treatment receive it before a vision problem leads to potential vision loss.

Specifically, the EDVI Act will establish state and community based EDVI programs across the United States to address children’s vision and eye health. Under the EDVI Act, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to states, communities, and tribes to:

• Implement approaches (such as vision screenings) for the early detection of vision concerns in children, referrals for eye exams, and mechanisms for follow-up to ensure that eye care was received,
• Integrate vision and eye health into ongoing programs and systems of care that already address other aspects of children’s physical, behavioral, and sensory health in places such as early learning or school- and community-based health settings,
• Identify barriers that keep families from accessing eye care, including awareness of potential childhood vision problems,
• Reduce disparities in eye health access and outcomes, and
• Develop state-based data collection, surveillance, and performance improvement systems.