Federal funding for Reach Out and Read, along with many other national education organizations, was eliminated in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. For Fiscal Year 2012, Reach Out and Read is advocating for the creation of a competitive grant program for national literacy organizations providing services to children in need. This would allow Reach Out and Read to compete for federal dollars to continue to support 3.9 million children across the country.

90 Members of the House and 30 Members of the Senate supported this request. Click here to view a full list of our Congressional supporters.

A bill called the Prescribe a Book Act (S. 393, H.R. 820) has been introduced in Congress to create a competitive grant program to support pediatric early literacy programs, based on the proven Reach Out and Read model, all across the country. The lead sponsors are Congressman Donald Payne (NJ-10), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA).