MEDIA OPPORTUNITY • Wednesday, June 21, 2023

WHAT: 

2023 COMBAT Symposium—Making A Greater Impact Together
 
WHEN:
 
 Wednesday, June 21, 2023
 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM
 (Doors open at 8:00 a.m.)
 
WHERE: 

Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110

MEDIA ACCESS: While the invitations were restricted to those agencies receiving COMBAT funding, the media will be granted access to the event. Those attending can contact COMBAT Communications Administrator Joe Loudon.

COMBAT Bringing Community Partners Together In Effort To Make A Greater Impact

Jackson County COMBAT will be hosting this day-long symposium to bring together COMBAT-funded prevention, treatment and law enforcement agencies to discuss at least three key issues:

• Expanding COMBAT’s Striving Together to Reduce Violence In Neighborhoods (STRiVIN’) initiative and the STRiVIN’ Social Services Referral program, which recently exceeded 1,000 referrals submitted.
   
  MORE INFORMATION:
  jacksoncountycombat.com/strivin
  jacksoncountycombat.com /combatstrivinreferrals
   
• Discussion Topic 1-Gun Violence: What more can we do—that is IN OUR CONTROL—to reduce gun violence in our community?*
   
• Discussion Topic 2-Fentanyl Awareness: What messaging targeting adults can we use to help reduce fentanyl overdoses? What messaging targeting youth can we use to help reduce fentanyl overdoses?*
   
   * NOTE TO MEDIA: Discussion topics won’t be shared with symposium attendees until the day of the event.
  
  

“Sometimes the best ideas are generated when people from different professions with different areas of expertise—and with different experiences—get in the same room to share their views,” said COMBAT Director Vince Ortega. “By bringing our program providers together like this, we want to further increase collaboration among the agencies receiving COMBAT funding, so that together we can have a greater impact on our community.”

Agenda

8:00 AM: Doors open (break served 8:00-8:45)
 
9:00 AM: Welcome (COMBAT Director Vince Ortega, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker and COMBAT Commission Chairperson Elizabeth Williams)
 
9:30 AM: COMBAT History (COMBAT Communications Administrator Joe Loudon Presenting)
 
10:00 AM: COMBAT STRiVIN’ Initiative and STRiVIN’ Social Services Referral Program (COMBAT Communications Administrator Joe Loudon & Director Vince Ortega Presenting)
 
STRiVIN’ Q & A
 
11:15 AM: Discussion Topic 1
 
NOON: Lunch
 
1:00 PM: Discussion Topic 1 Continued & Discussion Topic 2
 
Open Discussion (Time Permitting)
 
3:00 PM: More Q & A / Conclusion
 

CONTACT:

Joe Loudon
COMBAT Communications Administrator
jloudon@jacksongov.org
Cell: (816) 682-5783
Office: (816) 881-4337

In 1989 Jackson County, Missouri because the first jurisdiction in the United States to adopt a sale tax to provide more resources for local drug prevention, treatment and enforcement. The voters have since renewed COMBAT, the acronym officially given the COMmunity Back Anti-crime Tax in 1993 four times—most recently in 2016 with 73.17% support. COMBAT’s mission is to improve public safety throughout Jackson County by reducing drug abuse, drug-related crime and violence.