[nfbwatlk] Thousands of kids in Washington waiting for new eyeglasses, Associated Press, December 8, 2008

[Nightingale, Noel]

Thought many on this list might find this disturbing.

Link:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/latestheadlines/story/707127.html

Text:
Thousands of kids in Washington waiting for new eyeglasses
The Associated Press

Thousands of children who are enrolled in the state's Medicaid program have waited months for new eyeglasses.

Some children have been without glasses since the start of the school year, prompting doctors and educators to worry about vision problems and obstacles to learning.

The mother of a 9-year-old girl who is a fourth grader in Spokane, Lori Williams, says, "This entire thing is outrageous."

Her daughter, Kiera, tells The Spokesman-Review, "Sometimes, during recess, I can't really play because I don't feel well."

The backlog can be traced to new security protocols and computer software at the Airway Heights Corrections Center, where inmates work in a state-run optical lab to make every lens and frame for poor people served by the state's subsidized insurance program.