What is the Reach Out & Read Program? In 1989, the Reach Out and Read Program was developed in the Pediatric Primary Care Clinic at what was then Boston City Hospital, making books and the encouragement of early literacy part of the everyday pediatric practice. Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency has received a grant from the Reach Out and Read National Center to fund this reading and assessment program in our Health Care Centers.
ROR Programs are located in a wide variety of medical settings where pediatric primary care is provided. Each program is championed by a ROR medical director and on-site coordinator and follows the Program model. Each child between the ages of six months and five years is given a developmentally and culturally appropriate book to take home from every check-up. By the age of five, each child has as a small, but real library consisting of eight books. County medical providers in Visalia, Farmersville, and Tulare have been giving books to the children since September, 2003. The Reach Out and Read Program is in partnership with Read for Life and the Library. Please contact the Reach Out and Read Coordinator at 559-624-8480 for more information.
Current Statistics
ROR serves 3.9 million children annually.
ROR distributes over 6.2 million books each year. More than 26,500 medical providers currently participate in Reach Out and Read.
Tulare County Statistics from 6/30/09 to 12/31/2009:
Visalia Health Care Center: 900 books
Farmersville Health Care Center: 104 books
Tulare Pediatric Health Care Center: 1000 books
Reach Out and Read is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). There are more than 4,535 ROR programs based on the ROR model at clinics, hospitals, and health centers in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. Learn more about Reach out and Read at our National Website www.reachoutandread.org/
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HEALTH ALERT