“Over the last four decades, the type of diagnoses associated with severe visual impairments in children has changed. The number of children with severe neurologic conditions that impact vision at the level of the brain has increased. This poses a unique challenge and developing programs to maximize their visual potential is more complicated than simply teaching them Braille.”

— Dr. Ashish Mehta, Chief of Ophthalmology, Southern California Permanente Medical Group and BCLC Board Member

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The Blind Children’s Learning Center (BCLC) recently announced a bold new strategic plan to evolve its services to meet the changing needs of children with visual impairments, and their families. The plan will allow BCLC to double its impact and reach 500 children throughout Orange County by 2022.

Highlights of the new BCLC strategic plan include:

Expanding BCLC’s Global Infant Development Program and Bright Visions Early Childhood Center
to focus on early intervention for children ages 0-3 — a strategy that is shown to to help more children with visual impairments and other disabilities achieve important developmental milestones​​
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Augmenting BCLC’s services for families,
including advocacy, mental health resources, community-building and education 

Introducing new programs
to meet the unmet needs of BCLC’s clients, including summer camps, ongoing enrichment programs, family and child socializing opportunities, as well as informational sessions on financial literacy, special needs trusts, etc.
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Sunsetting BCLC’s Preschool
-2nd Grade classrooms and transitioning these students to their district schools, who now are ready to accommodate them thanks to the State’s $250 million investment in special education 

Collaborating with other non-profit organizations,
the Orange County Department of Education, and charter schools to effectively leverage resources, and wisely steward donor and fee revenue

Right-sizing our facility
to a smaller footprint within our present location or to a new facility in Orange County (location TBD) to better serve BCLC’s children and families as a larger majority of clients are seen through home-based and outreach programming

Expanding BCLC’s leadership team, staff and board of directors
to successfully implement the strategic plan 

Establishing BCLC as the “home base”
for all early intervention needs for children with visual impairments and other disabilities 

OUR GOAL:

Thanks to the generous support of our partners, donors, board members, leadership, staff and families, the Blind Children’s Learning Center already is making strides with implementing the strategic plan. Please stay tuned for some exciting updates! 

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