Candidate Forum to Be Held in Las Vegas to Highlight Needs of Nevada, Other U.S. Children During 2008 Elections

Posted 10 11 2008 1:16PM

To: STATE EDITORS

Contact: Amanda Haboush, +1-702-895-1040, amanda.haboush@unlv.edu, for ECM Nevada

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To boost the currently low visibility of the unmet needs of children, youth, and families in the 2008 election process, Every Child Matters Nevada will host a candidate forum October 13, 2008 at 3 p.m. PDT at the Spring Valley Library.

Each candidate will be given the opportunity to respond to questions about his or her plans for children's health, child abuse, and neglect policy, after-school care, early learning, child poverty, and the risk of imprisonment.

This is part of a national effort being undertaken by Every Child Matters to bring together children, parents, educators, care-givers, advocates and families concerned about the status of children's issues in our country, and to raise their voices to encourage the media and the candidates to address these issues.

Invited guests include:

* Assembly District 8 candidates: Barbara Buckley and Kevin L. Child;

* Assembly District 42 candidates: Carole Donald and Harry Mortenson; and

* Senate District 11 candidates: Stacey B. Gonzales, Joe Locatelli, and Mike Schneider.

According to EMCEF's Homeland Insecurity (2nd edition, 2008), 13 million American children live in poverty, eight million are without health insurance, and three million are reported abused or neglected. Comparisons with other rich democracies are eye-opening. The U.S. has the second highest child poverty rate among the world's 26 richest countries.

TO PARTICIPATE: This live event at 3 p.m. PDT on October 13, 2008 will be held at Spring Valley Library, 4280 S Jones Blvd, Las Vegas.

The Every Child Matters Education Fund (ECMEF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization focused on making the needs of children and youth a national political priority and promoting the adoption of smart policies for children, youth, and families -- including stopping child abuse, helping working families with child care, expanding pre-school education and after-school programs, and ensuring that children receive good health care.

SOURCE Every Child Matters, Las Vegas, NV

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