T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) Advocate Suzy Reed, left, and YSS of Marshall County Director of Community Engagement David Hicks, right, address the city council with their quarterly update on Monday night. Later in the meeting, the council voted to move forward with a plan that would commit additional American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to fund the MPACT program through the end of 2026.

Since YSS of Marshall County Director of Community Engagement David Hicks and Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper first began raising awareness of the fact that funding for the Marshalltown Police and Community Team — better known by its acronym MPACT — was set to run out at the end of 2025, they have been working to find the necessary dollars to keep the program afloat. On Monday night, they got good news as the city council voted in favor of proceeding with a plan that would allocate another $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the program, which embeds two social workers within the police department to respond to non-criminal, non-emergent calls for service, and keep it running for at least another year.

Near the end of Monday’s meeting, City Finance Director Diana Steiner came to the podium and provided some background on the council’s previous discussion two weeks prior, suggesting setting aside $550,000 from ARPA and, if needed, another $50,000 from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST). Some of that money would be used to cover expenses already incurred as a result of MPACT, while the rest would go toward future costs.

The remaining available ARPA money, which Steiner estimated to be about $68,000, could be committed to other projects such as the Linn Creek District Water Plaza, and she asked the council for direction from there. Councilor Greg Nichols originally motioned to commit the $550,000 to MPACT plus another $50,000 to “expenses already incurred” before Steiner noted that the additional amount was actually $68,000 due to another project coming in $18,000 under budget.

Councilor Jeff Schneider sought clarification on how Nichols intended for the remaining money to be spent, and Nichols responded that he did not want to dedicate it to any specific project but use it to cover money already spent. Fellow Councilor Gary Thompson then suggested giving the rest of the money to MPACT, opining that the program’s leaders could likely find a way to spend it by the end of 2027. All ARPA dollars, however, must be expended by Dec. 31, 2026, according to the wording of the law.

“Their agreement is for the two social workers and the administration of that program. It’s pretty specific on what we’re reimbursing them for, so in the event that they have a vacancy factor — they have turnover, and it doesn’t get spent — you’re sending that money back to the Feds,” Steiner said.

Thompson countered that it could be used for training, but Steiner said it would have to be in a contract set to be presented at the next meeting.

“Since we’re talking about ARPA funds (and) this other $68,000, there’s nothing that we feel better about as a social service program where ARPA was supposed to come in and do that thing for people? There’s nothing we have that we could move that to instead of a future project?” Thompson asked.

Steiner said it could be used to cover expenses already incurred on any construction projects, but she needed to know what the plan was before Dec. 31 to make sure she “had her ducks in a row.”

Schneider then motioned for an amendment to put the remaining $68,000 toward the Linn Creek District projects, which include the Water Plaza, the renovation of the Martha-Ellen Tye Playhouse, the Emerson Bridge and the new trailhead. The amendment passed by a 5-2 tally with Nichols, Schneider, Melisa Fonseca, Barry Kell and Mike Ladehoff in favor and Thompson and Mark Mitchell opposed.

From there, Schneider motioned for another amendment to allocate an additional $50,000 from LOST for MPACT to make the $600,000 “whole,” and it passed unanimously. The amended motion to direct staff to allocate $550,000 from ARPA and $50,000 from LOST for MPACT as well as $68,000 in ARPA funds to the Linn Creek District projects also passed unanimously.

It will come back as a formal resolution at a future meeting. Earlier in the night on Monday, Hicks, flanked by MPACT Advocate Suzy Reed, provided his final quarterly update of the year and reported that Read and her partner Tiffany Beadle have responded to 245 calls for service and made 1,056 follow up visits with over 2,000 people so far in 2024.

Compared to last year, the number of calls is actually down by over 100, but they have completed over 550 more follow up visits.

“We’re starting to see that scale tip. If we can get out ahead of some things, we can have those less frequent calls coming in to MPACT,” Hicks said. “I’m certainly pleased with the performance of our MPACT advocates.”

Of the calls through November, 30 percent involved the homeless, 18 percent mental health and 16 percent juvenile health issues. Reed then read a testimonial from a local resident who thanked her for helping the individual find mental health treatment and called Reed “the angel that was sent to me to wake me the hell up.”

Mayor Joel Greer commended the MPACT team for being invited to present at the upcoming national Co-Responder Conference in Atlanta, and Hicks said they were “flattered” by the offer. In response to a question from Ladehoff, he added that most of the other presenters hail from much larger cities, which sets Marshalltown apart.

“There’s co-responder programs springing up all over the country. We’re a little bit ahead of the game, and I think our expertise can help out others across the country in communities our size and larger to do a good job,” Hicks said.

Some of those other cities, Ladehoff responded, are New York, Chicago and Dallas. Greer asked Hicks if Tupper would be joining him at the conference, and the soon-to-be retired chief joked that he was waiting for the invitation.

“This is a pretty powerful thing we’re working on here, and I’m happy to be part of it,” Hicks said.

In response to a subsequent question from Thompson, Hicks indicated that he was encouraged by the drop in initial calls and had hoped it would move more in that direction in the future.

“I think the more we can get out front and provide some case management, some mental health help, some addictions counseling, we reduce those calls coming into the PD and reduce the calls and the frequency that we’re getting from those who use our program,” he said.

Thompson asked another question about how follow-ups are arranged and carried out, and Reed said they follow up with everyone they come into contact with, sometimes getting “pushy” to ensure they get the help they need. Fonseca also inquired about whether individuals in need of services could reach out to MPACT advocates or if they would need to be referred.

“Just give us a call. We can maybe work through a circumstance. We work with foster care kids with aftercare. We do addictions counseling, therapy, work with low-income families, so if we don’t have an answer or resource, we’re gonna connect you to one of our community partners who can assist,” Hicks said.

Greer mentioned that incoming State Senator Kara Warme (R-Ames) works for YSS, and Hicks also touted the planned opening of the new Ember recovery facility in Cambridge next month.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.