Our Mission
The American Sickle Cell Anemia Association (ASCAA) is an organization that provides quality and comprehensive services through diagnostic testing, evaluation, counseling and supportive services to individuals and families at-risk for Sickle Cell Disease.
The American Sickle Cell Association is a private nonprofit 501(C)3 organization in Cleveland, Ohio. The ASCAA was founded in 1971, and is the oldest sickle cell research, education, and social services organization in the United States.
Within the Ohio Department of Health, the ASCAA is designated as Region V and comprises Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Medina and Lorain counties. Region V has the highest incidence of sickle cell disease and variants of the disease in the state.
The organization currently provides a wide range of services to those individuals and families with either sickle cell trait or variants of the disease itself. Key services include: ongoing follow-up diagnostic testing, counseling, and tracking services for parents with infants who screen positive by the State Laboratory; Family Counseling and Support Services; coordination of medical, social services, education and support for the program's clientele; teacher education and screening services delivery at upwards of 85 local health fairs. In addition, ASCAA makes outreach to the region's African American, Hispanic, Mediterranean, and Arab communities for family education and the identification of the incidence of sickle cell disease.
Since its inception, the organization has tested approximately 125,000 at-risk individuals and has been a repository of statistical, case information, and data beneficial to patients, affected family members and the medical establishment both locally and globally.
ASCAA has the interest of children and youth at the center of all of its affairs. Aside from its diagnostic testing, school educator supports and summer camp, the agency operates an individualized transitioning program to adolescents called CHAMPPS.
