The importance in my opinion is quite simple. Intergenerational illiteracy and poverty cannot be broken until family as a whole begins to leam and realize importance of education. Then, family needs to that knowledge to begin to become productive members of society. Too many programs focus on just adult or just child. The value of family literacy is focus on family as a whole.-Kim Starr (Why Is Family Literacy Important?2006)Literacy is one of strongest predictors of adult success, yet one in four children are illiterate and 50% of adults cannot read a book that is written on an eighth grade level (Reading, Literacy, and Education Statistics, 2009). The U.S Department of Education defines literacy as the ability to printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential (White & McCloskey, 2003). The inability to use printed and written information to function in society has financial consequences in that it is estimated that cost of illiteracy to businesses and taxpayer is $20 billion per year (United Way of America, 2010). If a child does not leam to read well within first few years of school, then chances of poor academic performance increase significantly (About RIF, 2010; Asche, 2009; Canada, 2008; National Institute for Child Health & Development (NICHD), 2005; National Institute for Literacy, 2008). Although early childhood literacy is key to future success, 35% of American children arrive at kindergarten without basic language skills they will need to leam to read (Reach Out and Read, 2008). Therefore, in order to receive best possible start during their school, it is critical that children be cognitively and socially stimulated from birth with frequent reading.Myriad research over past several years has found that children who are read to by their parents on a regular basis tend to become better readers and perform better in school (e.g., Abdullah-Welsh, Flaherty, & Bosma, 2009; Douglas et al., 2010; Mortimore & Wall, 2009; Roberts, Jurgens, & Burchinal, 2005; Strickland & Shanahan, 2004; U.S. Department of Education, 2011) due in large part to their skilled listening comprehension, which is a strong predictor of later reading skills (National Institute for Literacy, 2008). As literate children grow into adulthood, they possess greater knowledge (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), experience, enhanced psychological well-being (Canada, 2008), reside in safer communities (due to a lower number of incarcerated individuals from neighborhoods; U.S. Department of Commerce, 2007), enjoy a better standard of living than their illiterate or less-literate counterparts (Asche, 2009) and have a decreased likelihood of future problems during their adolescent and adult years (National Research Council, 2002). Conversely, illiteracy predicts several long-term negative outcomes, including but not limited to restricted access to information and employment opportunities (Waters & Harris, 2009), and increased likelihood for school drop-out. In 2007, 8.8% of students from low-income families dropped out of school (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2007). High school drop-out rates are also directly linked to incarceration, where illiteracy thrives (Alfred & Chlup, 2009). According to United States Department of Education, prisons in United States have an extremely high percentage of illiteracy, with 58% of inmates earning less than a high school education and not acquiring basic literacy skills (U. S. Department of Education, 2006).As a Black family scholar that has interviewed Black men and women who were previously incarcerated, this author is keenly aware that incarceration negatively affects psyche of individual and substantially decreases likelihood that individual's family will adequately meet their financial needs, develop stable relationships with incarcerated member (i. …