Editorial: A welcome new service

Wednesday, April 26, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

In the business world, if a need or a demand among paying consumers becomes apparent, a store or service quickly follows. It is nice to see that this can happen in the world of social needs, too.

A Las Vegas couple, Paula Yakubik and Jason Kuckler, have started a nonprofit agency called the Southern Nevada Child Abuse Prevention Center.

The need for this service is abundantly clear. In 2000 Clark County Child Protective Services conducted 6,359 abuse investigations. Today the number of abuse investigations conducted annually by the agency is above 10,000.

The couple's center, which does not yet have a building but which has attracted $100,000 in private donations, will be officially launched during an event that begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Panevino Restaurant, 246 Via Antonio Ave. Clark County Manager Thom Reilly and Susan Klein-Rothschild, director of the county's Family Services Department, will be guest speakers.

The center is modeled after one in California, which started helping 20 families in 1984 and now is helping more than 5,000. It plans eventually to provide a variety of services, including counseling and in-home assistance.

A big need now is for donations, so that the center's staff and volunteers can move into a centrally located building. We hope Las Vegas Valley residents greet this new organization with generosity.