If kids can’t get to the doctor, bring the doctor to the kids. The consequences of not addressing eyesight problems early can be dire and compounding. Studies over the past decade suggest that students who perform badly in school are misdiagnosed with behavioral disorders or special education needs when the culprit was their poor eyesight.

The solution was deceptively simple: If kids can’t get to the doctor, bring the doctor to the kids. Under the vision for Baltimore program, a mobile clinic shows up to the school for about a week during the year to determine whether a child may need glasses.

But the program still has to overcome a lack of cooperation from some parents, who often fail to fill out the necessary paperwork. Families can provide a Medicaid number to cover the cost of the exam, for example, but many do not, or the number comes back wrong or illegible. The cost is covered with or without a Medicaid number, but Worthy-Owens said some parents did not want their children to get glasses even after they were identified, either because they fear the cost or resist revealing other personal information to the school.