1. COVID_Resources
    #CompassionIsContagiousToo
    We will continue to update our website's COVID-19 Resources section as we become aware of information that we believe might assist you and/or your organization. When we complete updates will post links on social media, so please follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

    » COVID-19 Resources

    » FREE Testing Clinics 

    » Resource Maps

    COMBAT-Funded_Agencies_Banner
    » Violence Prevention Programs
    Bullying  • Child Abuse • Counseling • Diversion Programs • Domestic Violence • Job Training  • Legal Services • Parenting • Re-entry • School Attendance • Sexual Assault  • STRIVIN' • Victim Support  • Youth-Oriented

    » Substance Abuse Prevention Programs

    » Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs
    Drug Counseling • Intensive Outpatient • Partial Hospitalization • Recovery Houses • Residential Inpatient

    » Law Enforcement School-Based Programs
Community Backed Anti-Drug Anti-Crime Anti-Violence Tax
  1. COVID Testing October 2020

    COVID-19 Testing Clinics
    The Jackson County Health Department is conducting free testing clinics throughout the county in October, including in Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Grandview, Independence, Kansas City, Lee's Summit and Raytown. Testing will be done using either an NP swab (nasopharyngeal swab) or nasal swab collected by a healthcare professional. This test only detects a current infection with COVID-19 and will not be able to detect if you've had a past infection. 
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  1. Just A Speck Of Fentanyl Can Kill You

    Drug Task Force Seizes 3,000 Pills Laced With Fentanyl
    A two milligram dose of fentanyl can be lethal. That’s why the Jackson County Drug Task Force’s seizure of 3,000 pills stamped as OxyContin but laced with fentanyl almost certainly saved lives—and sounded alarms. As COMBAT Director Vince Ortega points out, swallowing a tablet with fentanyl in it “could be every bit as deadly as biting down on a cyanide capsule.” While morphine is 1½ times stronger than oxycodone, the semi-synthetic opioid in OxyContin, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. 
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  1. Creating A New Normal

    ‘We Are Truly In This Together’
    Violence and COVID-19 have combined to create “one public health crisis on top of another.” From this adversity, COMBAT Director Vince Ortega is hopeful a new—and better—“normal” emerges. As summer ends and fall begins, he urges law enforcement agencies to hear the calls for social justice and reform, and stresses everyone—social workers, educators, concerned citizens—must work together to address the underlying issues sparking violence and drug abuse. We are truly in this together, so every neighborhood can become a safe place to call home. 
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  1. Domestic Violence

    Domestic Violence Epidemic
    Domestic violence increases whenever families spend more time together—whether they’re spending more time together during the holiday season or due to a pandemic. With COVID-19 forcing many families into isolation, surges in intimate partner abuse were probably inevitable. They’ve been reported all across the nation and around the world, promptly the United Nations to declare domestic violence a global crisis. Locally, agencies that operate shelters and provide other services for abuse victims have experienced a significant increase in crisis hotline calls. They’ve also reported “not only seeing more abuse, but injuries being inflicted that are more severe. The level of violence… has only gotten worse with the pandemic.” 
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  1. CALENDAR
  1. FUNDING DISTRIBUTION

COMBAT Funding Pie Chart

Half Toward Enforcement

COMBAT is supported through a quarter-center sales tax that Jackson County voters first approved in 1989 and have since renewed multiple times—the last time being in 2016 when they voted (with record 77% support) extending the COMBAT text another nine years. 

The tax generates more than $20 million a year to support prevention, treatment and anti-violence programs. The County Legislature approved a forumlar to distribute the funding, with half the revenue going toward law enforcement efforts.

A quarter-cent sales tax equates to an extra 25 cents per $100 spend. An estimated 30% of COMBAT revenue is generated by non-Jackson County resident paying the tax when shopping in the county.
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  1. #STRIVINTogether

STRIVING Together To Reduce Violence In Neighborhoods

Initiative Focuses On Need For Joint Effort To Reduce Violence In Neighborhoods

This COMBAT initiative brings together school administrators, police officers, elected officials, mental health professionals, social workers, faith-based leaders and concerned citizens to address violence in Jackson County’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. 

With a focus on developing a collaborative, comprehensive and coordinated plan in each “hot spot,” STRIVIN’ recognizes that no one individual or single agency can “save a neighborhood.” It takes working together—striving together—to make any neighborhood a safe place to call home.
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