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Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Expansion
University of Kansas Master of
Public Health Degree Expansion
Kansas Action for Children (KAC) Support
Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition (TFKC) Capacity Building
Faith and Leadership Initiative
Dental Hubs and Spokes: Expanding Access to Oral Health Care in Kansas
Kansas Health Care Collaborative
Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a national program that promotes early literacy by making books a routine part of pediatric care. The program trains pediatricians, family physicians and other primary care practitioners to advise caregivers about the importance of reading aloud to children. Additionally, practitioners give new books to children at each pediatric checkup from 6 months to 5 years of age. By combining the advice of the physician with the gift of a book, the program provides the tools to help promote children’s development skills, a key factor in later school success.
Since 2003, the Foundation has worked with the Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (KAAP) and its charitable arm, the Kansas Pediatric Foundation (KPF), to develop and implement a program in Kansas using the ROR model. The purpose of this grant is to expand the number of ROR sites across Kansas by initially targeting primary care safety net clinics and clinics in the 25 counties with the highest number of children receiving free and reduced priced lunches. By targeting providers of low-income families and counties with high poverty rates, the Foundation hopes ROR will be a contributing factor to an increase in the number of at-risk children that enter school with the required reading skills.