Ohio pledges $10 million to help children see

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A new program called OhioSEE from the Ohio Department of Health is making sure children who need vision care receive it.

The state allocated $10 million of the state budget to OhioSEE, and it will operate in 15 high-priority counties around the state, including Franklin County.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said Ohio has a gap in vision care for children.

“Only a small percentage of kids who are identified on a screening exam as being someone who needs a more complete eye exam, and potentially eyeglasses, goes on to get that more complete exam; it’s less than a quarter,” Vanderhoff said.

OhioSEE will fund mobile vision vans and temporary in-school vision clinics, bringing eye exams directly to schools and students.

Vanderhoff said the program will serve children from kindergarten through third grade who have failed a vision screening.

“What we’ll be doing in those counties is bringing follow-up exams to any student who needs that follow-up exam after having failed a vision screen at school,” Vanderhoff said. “If they need a pair of glasses, they’ll get them.”

Dr. David Rogers, chief of the Department of Ophthalmology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, said he frequently sees the gaps in care.

“Kids may be screened in school, but then they are lost,” Rogers said. “They are referred for an eye exam, but they never get to the eye exam.”

Rogers said he believes the OhioSEE program will provide solutions to the barriers many parents face.

“They don’t have access, they don’t have insurance,” Rogers said. “You know, parents aren’t available to do it during certain specific business hours that most ophthalmologists and optometrists keep.”

Rogers said about one-third of children need glasses, and without access to vision care, they could fall behind in school.

“You need to be able to see to read and write,” he said. “Our whole system is based on being able to see and read. I think the governor has done a good job identifying the problem. So they’ve identified the gap and they’ve proposed a solution.”

Vanderhoff said that once the program is fully implemented, OhioSEE could serve around 14,000 children a year.

ODH will start rolling it out in early 2026.