JUNE | 2026

2026 Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award:

Nominate a Children’s Vision Screening Champion!

The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health announces that nominations are now open for the 2026 Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award. Nominations for individuals and groups are due on July 25, 2026. We encourage you to nominate a colleague.

The Award recognizes significant efforts by an individual or group of individuals to improve public health approaches for children’s vision and eye health at the state or national level in the United States. Approaches must be replicable and create sustainable change.

The Award will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health on September 11, 2026.

Enroll now in our newly updated Children’s Vision Screening Certification Course to learn how to use evidence-based screening practices confidently to improve your program/school or/school district’s accuracy in screening and helping children get the eye care they need.

Register by June 30, 2026, to receive a $25 discount.

The training covers the following topics (and more):

• Conducting accurate, evidence-based vision screenings for children from birth through high school
• How vision relates to learning and classroom behavior
• Providing parent/guardian/caregiver education about healthy vision for learning, the importance of an eye exam, and preparing their child for the exam
• Making appropriate referrals for eye examinations
• Applying a systematic follow-up process to help reduce the gap between referrals from vision screening and completion of recommended eye examinations and treatment
• The revised course features 40 new and updated resources that you can download and use to support your screening program, case studies, videos demonstrating the use of evidence-based vision screening tools, and interactive online learning.

To receive the $25 discount, enter Intro2026 when asked for a coupon code.

Prevent Blindness has declared June 28-July 4, 2026, as Fireworks Safety Week to educate the public on the potential dangers of fireworks. Prevent Blindness offers a dedicated webpage, free fact sheets, and shareable social media graphics. For social media graphics, scroll down the page and enter “fireworks” in the search block. 

A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens that blocks or changes the passage of light into the eye. Cataracts are common among older adults and are a major cause of vision loss and blindness. They can also occur in younger people and, in rare cases, even in newborn babies.

Prevent Blindness and other national eye organizations recommend regular comprehensive eye examinations for adults, particularly beginning around age 40, and for individuals at higher risk of eye disease. Adults aged 65 years and older are often advised to receive comprehensive eye examinations annually or every 1 to 2 years, depending on risk factors and professional guidance.

Prevent Blindness offers tips about prevention, symptoms and information about surgery on this dedicated page.

Proposed Head Start Rule and Potential Impact on Vision Screening

On May 12, 2026, the Administration for Children and Families published a proposed rule titled Restoring Flexibility to Support Head Start Program Access in the Federal Register. The proposal focuses primarily on workforce, operational, and administrative requirements within the Head Start Program Performance Standards and is intended to provide greater flexibility to local Head Start programs. 

The proposed rule does not appear to change current Head Start requirements related to children’s vision and eye health services. However, concerns have been raised that staffing reductions, funding pressures, or potential program closures could lead to enrollment declines in some communities. If fewer children participate in Head Start programs, fewer children may receive the vision screenings, referrals, and follow-up support that Head Start programs have historically provided as part of comprehensive health services.

Public comments on the proposed rule are being accepted through June 11, 2026. The proposed rule and instructions for submitting comments are available through the Federal Register.

Head Start East has published a plain-language guide that explains what is happening, addresses rumors, and tells you how to make your voice heard.

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PreventBlindness.org | nationalcenter.preventblindness.org