Rutgers researchers have discovered that combining literacy programs with community-based support services can significantly improve literacy development in Latino children from birth to 18 months. The study, led by Manuel E. Jimenez, an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, explored a cross-sector approach that brings together different types of support for families. The findings showed that this combined approach led to more responsive interactions between parents and children, as well as better social and emotional development in young children compared to literacy programs alone. The study tested three different intervention strategies. The first involved a literacy promotion program that provided free books and modeled reading during routine medical check-ups starting at 6 months of age. The second added a text messaging component that continued for 18 months. The third combined both of these with referrals to Connecting New Jersey (CNJ), a statewide initiative linked to Help Me Grow that helps families connect with support services for young children. The results showed that combining literacy promotion with CNJ referrals led to significant improvements in children's verbal responsiveness and social-emotional development nine months after enrollment. These benefits were still evident 18 months after the program started. Doctors at RWJMS are collaborating with Reach Out and Read, a national program that provides books to children during medical visits, to implement these findings in real-world settings. This includes connecting caregivers with resources and improving how Reach Out and Read is delivered. A previous study from this six-year project found that when doctors model reading during visits, it leads to more frequent, varied, and high-quality reading activities at home. Jimenez and his team are working to ensure that this modeling is included in training across the national Reach Out and Read network. The study was published in Pediatrics, a leading journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The programs involved in the study are already active in New Jersey and across the United States, supporting thousands of children. Pediatric clinicians looking to support children and their families can use these programs as practical steps to promote literacy development in all children, regardless of background or circumstance.