How Jackson County's COMBAT tax funds CASA
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Jackson County's one-fourth-cent anti-crime sales tax is up for renewal on Tuesday's ballot, and one of its programs funds reuniting families.
The big picture: The tax pays for a lot of drug and crime prevention initiatives, but a small, lesser-known portion goes toward advocating for children in the foster system.
Context: COMBAT, which stands for Community Backed Anti-Crime Tax, is popular — it won its last renewal in 2016 with 73% support, KCUR reported.
- In 2025, it generated nearly $34 million.
Zoom in: Roughly $75,000 goes toward funding one of two Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) lawyers working in the Family Treatment Court.
- The lawyers act on behalf of the children who have been placed into foster care while their parents work toward overcoming substance use disorders and reuniting with their kids.
What they're saying: "Keeping kids in foster care is incredibly expensive," Katie Wiehl, director of legal services for Jackson County CASA, tells Axios.
- She says the COMBAT funding helps prevent kids from staying in the system longer, and losing it would likely result in cutting staff and reuniting fewer families.
By the numbers: CASA has served 1,473 children from 868 families so far this year.
- Of those children, 470 have one or both parents assigned to Family Treatment Court.
The bottom line: Wiehl says Family Treatment Court success stories can prevent future drug relapses and foster system reentries.