Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department and AZ Lions Vision Center

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2019

One of the leading healthcare problems in the Juvenile Justice setting is poor vision. Many of the juveniles in Maricopa County juvenile detention have never had a vision screening and suffer from myopia or nearsightedness. With this new public/ private partnership every juvenile receives a vision screening at 6 days of detainment as part of a comprehensive wellness visit. If the vision test is abnormal a referral is processed to the AZ Lions Vision Center for a comprehensive eye exam by an optometrist and an opportunity to obtain glasses. A partnership was developed between Juvenile Probation and AZ Lions Vision Center to address the high prevalence of myopia in the adolescent age group. As part of this innovative partnership, the AZ Lions Vision Center provides a spot vision machine for each medical clinic and detention facility. Using this new technology, medical staff are able to more accurately screen for poor vision and process a referral for glasses during detainment.