At the tail end of Wednesday morning’s meeting, the Marshall County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an addendum to its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Marshalltown Police and Community Team, better known by its acronym MPACT, and heard an update from Sheriff Joel Phillips on how the organization’s work has expanded throughout Marshall County with the addition of a third advocate, Riley Robinson.

Assistant Marshall County Attorney Kiyoko Kieffer explained that the board has allocated $125,031 in opioid settlement funds for the program, and the process of YSS hiring a third advocate took a bit longer than expected.

“This would just allow them to go and be able to fully use those funds until Dec. 31,” she said.

The current contract with the city of Marshalltown also expires on Dec. 31, and Supervisor Carol Hibbs asked Sheriff Joel Phillips if he has seen a benefit since the expansion has been implemented.

He replied that there have been a couple of situations in the last few months where MPACT advocates have assisted the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), including the recent incident when the awning at the Phillips 66 gas station in Le Grand collapsed due to high winds and resulted in the displacement of a traveler. MPACT transported the occupants and a pet to a local hotel for an overnight stay.

“We’re gonna be working on some of the reporting requirements through the Memorandum of Understanding to make sure that those settlement dollars are being spent responsibly,” he said. “There’s a few more calls coming in, but for the most part, it’s kind of a work in progress.”

A motion to approve the addendum passed by a 3-0 vote, and on Friday morning, Robinson, a Class of 2023 Marshalltown High School graduate who resides in Le Grand, and fellow MPACT Advocate Suzy Reed sat down with the T-R to discuss the work they are performing and their hopes that funding can be found to keep the program running after the current contract expires.

“Sometimes, the caseload gets pretty heavy for just two of us (Reed and Tiffany Beadle) to handle, so going out into the county, we’re definitely going to need somebody else. So it was exciting and nice to add a third person,” Reed said.

In the past, she added, MCSO deputies have brought displaced individuals into Marshalltown so MPACT can assist them and lighten their overall workload. Robinson started about a month and a half ago and said she learned about the program through taking the Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) Citizens Academy course a few years ago.

When she learned of the opening for a third advocate, she decided to apply and heard back from Reed the same day.

“I love it. It’s something new every day. It really is. Just working with the people in Marshalltown, I think, is huge, just helping them out. You know, growing up here, you didn’t really notice everything that actually went on, and it’s been very eye opening,” Robinson said.

Helping someone “brightens her day,” she added.

Since it launched in 2021 with a funding commitment from the Marshalltown City Council, long-term sustainability has been an ongoing question, and Reed remains hopeful about the future as MPACT has been well-received and earned statewide and national accolades.

“It’s a little unsettling to say ‘My program’s up in December. Am I going to have a job?’ I have six kids. My entire life rides on this job. I am hopeful, though. I know David (Hicks) works very hard to find those funding sources, grants, donations, whatever it may be,” she said.

Robinson couldn’t agree more.

“I feel like it is a great program. I wish more places had a program like this. It takes a huge load off the officer’s back because they can’t sit there for an hour or two hours. They don’t have the time for that,” she said.

MPACT is a co-responder program that embeds social workers within the MPD and now the MCSO to handle non-criminal, non-emergent calls for service.

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

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.