Every Child Counts is one of over 30 Iowa organizations participating in the Children's Policy Coalition, a group committed to raising children's issues to prominence during this fall's election season.

Children are 24 percent of the population and 100 percent of the future. The public cares deeply about the future of the next generation and believes lawmakers have important roles in ensuring children's health, safety, education, security and opportunity for success.  

Unfortunately, how government should respond to child needs is not regarded as a top-tier issue. The role of the Children's Policy Coalition is to elevate critical child issues to the prominence they deserve.

Along with similar efforts in 21 other states, the Children's Policy Coalition aims to elevate those issues in Iowa by disseminating a child policy guide, Securing America's Future: Children and the 2012 Election, that outlines the federal policies affecting children and raises seven questions pertaining to children that Congressional candidates need to address.     

View the guide.   

The coalition is also reaching out to all Iowa Congressional candidates and asking them to spell out their views on these seven child-policy issues both in response to a survey and on their websites, and sponsoring forums that give candidates the opportunity to present their views. We are also asking them to  include child-policy issues as a specific topic in debates.   

View the brochure, "Seven questions voters should ask--and candidates should answer--about America's future."

In the next couple of weeks we will publish the responses we received from the Congressional Candidates on the updated itsaboutourkids website. We will also post pictures of our meetings with the Candidates and links to their websites.