Legislators consider ongoing COMBAT evaluation

Continuing its examination of the Jackson County anti-drug sales tax,
county legislators began to discuss hiring a program evaluator to
determine if the county's anti-drug programs are effective.

"There is a huge amount of work to do, and I never expected this to be
a one-year process, but an ongoing thing," said Legislator Bob Spence,
6th District. "We want particular emphasis on if we're getting a bang
for our buck."

Legislator Scott Burnett, co-chairman of the Anti-Drug Committee, said
the county already does a good job ensuring the money is spent
properly, but wants more information about the successes and failures
of the programs.

"Now what we want to know is if they've done anything specific to keep
people off of drugs and from reoffending," Burnett said. "To get down
to it, we want to know if the money for a particular program is doing
any good."

Dr. Bruce Eddy of the Re source Development Institute testified before
the committee, saying it is a good idea to hire a program evaluator.
He recommended the county hire someone with at least a master's degree
and provide a support staff to help out. The administrator should
also, most importantly, be free of influence from the agencies being
studied.

Jean Roth Jacobs also was in favor of hiring an evaluator, but
cautioned the county needs to realize results are not always easy to
determine. For example, she said 10 to 20 percent of the people who
receive treatment never come back and remain drug free. She said 60
percent may return for treatment, but their life is significantly
better since the last time they received treatment. The remainder
receive treatment, but it doesn't work at all.

Jacobs said the measure for legislators may be to determine how many
of these people are working and positively contributing to the
community after treatment. She said the people may now be adding more
to the economy than the original cost of the treatment.

Jacobs also added that the results from treatment will be easier to
determine than the results from prevention efforts. Spence agreed and
said he would like a county evaluator to start by looking at treatment
programs.

Legislators will continue to discuss the issue at future meetings.

Legislators also:

- - Transferred $659,086 to the prosecuting attorney's budget, to create
a white collar crime unit.

- - Allowed the Missouri De part ment of Transportation to remove and
replace the Little Blue Trace Trail at U.S. 24 and the Little Blue
River, at no cost to the county.

The trail may be closed in this area for about a year, as MoDOT
completes a bridge replacement project.

- - Agreed to purchase 25 new Ford Crown Victoria police interceptors
for $518,625, from Joe Machens Ford of Columbia, Mo.

- - Approved a new pension package for employees that allows previous
employment with the county to count toward pension calculations, once
the employee has put in five years of service.

Troy Thomas, Jackson County chief financial officer, said the change
will affect 45 employees and currently cost the county an additional
$82,000 per year.

- - Authorized a permanent traffic signal to be installed at the
intersection of Buckner Tarsney Road and Sni-A-Bar Road. The City of
Grain Valley will reimburse the county $10,000 for the signal, which
is on recently annexed land.

- - Spent $30,000 as the county's share of installing a flashing red
light signal and gates at the intersection of Courtney Atherton Road
and the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad tracks.

- - Approved $28,386 to build an impound lot just southwest of the
Jackson County Sheriff's Department headquarters. An existing contract
with Superior Bowen Asphalt Company of Kansas City was increased to
pay for the project.

- - Agreed to pay $93,250 for the cost of emergency treatment at St.
Luke's Hospital for two inmates of the Jackson County Jail.

- - Agreed to purchase about $25,000 in boat lift parts and service from
HydroHoist International of Claremore, Okla.