Lautenberg Celebrates New Funding for Reach Out
and Read Program at Newark Hospital

NEWARK, N.J. – Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ-10) today celebrated the donation of 1,000 books to the Pediatric Health Center at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center from the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey.  These books will be used for the Reach Out and Read Program, a partnership between physicians and parents to help children learn to read.  Sen. Lautenberg spoke at the event and read to children in the waiting room of the center.

“We want all of New Jersey’s children to develop the reading skills needed for them to excel in school and beyond.  With the help of Reach Out and Read, doctors and nurses can nurture young minds by promoting reading to children and parents.  I will keep fighting for the resources the program needs so our children can develop a life-long love of learning,” said Sen. Lautenberg.

Tenth District Congressman Donald Payne, a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, said “Engendering a love of reading is one of the most important gifts that we can give to young children. As a former teacher, I have seen first-hand the wonderful transformation that books can make in the life of a child, both by providing knowledge and inspiring imagination.  I congratulate the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey and Reach Out and Read on this great partnership.”

Reach Out and Read is a national, non-profit organization founded in 1989 at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), through a collaboration of pediatricians and early childhood educators.  Reach Out and Read focuses on children at greatest risk: boys and girls who are six months to five years old, or living at or near poverty. 

Doctors participating in the program distribute carefully selected, new, developmentally and culturally appropriate books, beginning with books for babies and ending with more complex books for preschoolers.  Bilingual books are available in 12 languages. 

Low-income children who participate in Reach Out and Read show improved language development, a critical component of school readiness.  These children score four to eight points higher on vocabulary tests, giving two-year-olds a six-month developmental head start.  Studies also show that parents who get books and literacy counseling from their doctors and nurses are more likely to read to their children, read to them more often and provide books in the home. 

Sen. Lautenberg is a cosponsor of the “Prescribe a Book Act,” which would authorize a competitive grant program under No Child Left Behind to support pediatric early literacy programs like Reach Out and Read.  The grants would be geared towards those offices that serve children at highest risk of reading failure, including those from low-income families, migrant children, and those covered by Medicaid, SCHIP, or without insurance.  The FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act provided $4 million in funding for Reach Out and Read and the FY 2009 President’s budget requests $15 million for the program.

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