Building Connections Begins at Birth

Reach Out and Read Northwest - Oregon

Reach Out and Read (ROR) gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. By partnering with children’s doctors, Reach Out and Read meets families where they are already going, as over 90% of families regularly see their children’s doctor. Using the Reach Out and Read model, doctors walk into exam rooms with a book in hand, a gift picked especially for that family. Doctors use the book as a tool to talk with parents about the importance of reading together, share practical early literacy tips, and model reading strategies. Families also take the brand- new, high-quality book to keep and read at home. By making ROR a part of their practice, providers have a built-in strategy to help families build healthy foundational relationships and address the education and literacy social determinants of health.

Reach Out and Read is extending their program model into four earlier well-child visits (at the newborn, one-month, 2-month, and 4-month visits). Importantly, increased dosage has been shown to enhance the benefits of the program for children and families. By beginning Reach Out and Read at the earliest well-child visits, ROR can support and strengthen the emergent development of all early family relationships.

The JTMF Foundation is pleased to support children and their families reading together and engaging over books more often, through the works of Reach Out and Read.