WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Association of Counties (NACo) President Eric Coleman will address children’s issues at the 2008 Aspen Ideas Festival, scheduled to convene on the Institute’s Aspen Meadows campus from June 30 – July 6.

For more than 50 years, the Aspen Institute has been the nation’s premier gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape lives and challenge times.

In its fourth year, the Aspen Ideas Festival is a gathering of scientists, artists, politicians, historians, educators, and activists who present and discuss some of the most important and fascinating ideas of today. Participants contribute provocative perspectives from their fields and discuss the world with a sophisticated audience highly motivated to engage in dialogue.

Coleman, who has served a county commissioner in Oakland County, Mich. since 1997, will participate in the Children and Education forum (June 30-July 3). The children’s forum will touch on issues such as the standards schools should meet; how resources should be provided to schools; how to provide health care coverage to all children, and how to support vulnerable children and families without intruding on family life.

Coleman will participate in a panel conversation on “Public Policy and Support for Children: Notes to the next President.” This session will address the question of federal government’s role in improving child well-being, health, education and support of needy families.

Counties play an important role in the nation’s child welfare system, including administering foster care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicaid and other safety net programs.

In addition, Coleman said that the forum ties into his 2007-08 NACo Presidential Initiatives: The Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) and Aging Out of Foster Care.

“I am delighted to have been asked to participate in the dialog on these important children’s issues,” Coleman said. “It is critically important that the next president and Congress devote sharper focus on the health and welfare of our children. I hope that through the Aspen Ideas Festival we can better identify how we can be most effective in addressing these issues in the years ahead.”

More information on the festival is available at www.aifestival.org.

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The National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,066 counties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money. For more information about NACo, visit www.naco.org