FFCL's overall goals and objectives are to: 1) provide quality, age appropriate books for children birth to five, mailed to them at home every month 2) provide parents with the resources they need to be effective as their child's “first teacher" 3) partner with local organizations to support early literacy efforts in the community 4) increase the number of children, especially from low-income environments, entering school with the necessary skills for learning success 5) positively affect the number of children who graduate from high school

Ferst Foundation partners with local communities and organizations/foundations to get our youngest and most vulnerable what they need, where they are – books in the home beginning at birth. Community Action Teams, or CATs, are our dedicated all-volunteer teams who oversee and administer the FFCL program in their county/community. CATs are responsible for registering children and promoting literacy through partnerships with other local organizations They also raise majority of the cost ($36 per year per child) locally through donations from individuals, foundations, businesses, civic groups, corporate sponsorships, and churches. This local involvement enables sustainability by creating a diverse funding base and helps build capacity at the community level around the important issue of literacy. Partner Action Teams (PATs) are formed when a specific funding group wants to target a unique group of children for program enrollment. A civic organization may sponsor a number of daycare centers in a low-income neighborhood or support several Head Start classrooms. PATs allow FFCL to have the flexibility to make our valuable program available in creative ways.

Ferst Foundation has come a long way since it was founded in 1999. A strong core staff collaborates with more than 500 volunteers in 85 counties/communities across five states to implement our program. Strategic partnerships with programs such as Talk With Me Baby, Get Georgia Reading, the National Campaign for Grade Level Reading, Texas Home Visiting Program help support the work of early literacy and move the needle on grade level reading. FFCL mails 72 different children's book titles each year – each one designated for a particular birth year. These books are reviewed annually by a panel of experts in early child development/education/library science and are evaluated according to strict guidelines for maximum developmental impact. Parent resources, in print and online, include researched-based reading strategies for a deeper dive into building early literacy skills, in addition other essential information that promotes reading together and underscores the importance of developing early literacy skills. Ferst Foundation has mailed more that five million books to children at homes in the past 18 years and currently serves more than 40,000 children, birth to five.

We measure our progress in a number of ways. We look at the positive growth of the program, both in terms of how many children are participating and how many counties/communities are involved in helping us raise awareness around the issue of literacy. We also measure success by looking at participation rates in those communities. After years of watching our FFCL program grow, we have seen overall school test scores positively impacted when a county/community has greater than 50% of its children enrolled in the program and has been providing services for five years or more. And of course, the entire community benefits when even one more child comes to school prepared to learn.

Based on recent program evaluations, it is evident that FFCL is moving the needle on grade level reading. Results from these evaluations indicate: • FFCL participation helps develop the skills children need to be successful in school. • FFCL children demonstrate better reading behaviors, are much more actively engaged during story time and are better listeners. • FFCL parents are more engaged across the board in their children's academic progress than non-FFCL parents. • The FFCL program contributes to "leveling" the playing field for children who, because of socioeconomic factors, would likely enter school up to two years behind their peers. Beyond that, through our partnerships in local communities, we've built capacity around the issue of early literacy and helped more children enter school with the skills they need to be successful learners. Targeting parent engagement as an integral component of improving early literacy is at the forefront for next steps. We will be increasing resources, adding platforms for communications and providing literacy coaching workshops for community partners.