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Thrive Iowa leaders prepare for implementation of initiative in Marshall County

By Lana Bradstream 5 min read

A new community-led initiative is preparing to launch in Marshall County, one of 22 counties chosen within the state. The initiative brings community resources together into its system to help move families from crisis to stability.

Thrive Iowa Community Services Bureau Chief Page Humphrey laid out how the program works to almost 50 community leaders during a Wednesday meeting at the Marshalltown Public Library.

"This meeting is to introduce the initiative to all of you and we can start to work together," she said.

Thrive Iowa, funded by a TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) block grant, was implemented by Iowa Health & Human Services (HHS) after a 2011 paper was published stating the only way to solve social issues was through collective impact. The state department was inspired by a program in Arkansas which helped reduce the number of foster children and improve reedification rates.

"HHS put out a funding opportunity several months ago and identified Marshall County as one of the sites to implement this initiative," Humphrey said, adding it was not possible to start it in all 99 counties. "We prioritized counties to implement this model based on data. Where are there a disproportionate number of families with children who are living in poverty? Where are there higher number reports of abuse and neglect and numbers of foster care placements? We wanted to target those higher need counties first."

Knowing it would not be possible without local help, she said they sought a backbone organization in Marshall County, and Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA) was chosen from submitted applications after receiving numerous letters of support from elected officials and local partners.

Besides Marshall County, the initiative will also be launched in Tama and Araceli Roberts will be the Thrive Iowa coordinator for both.

The program

Two important aspects of Thrive Iowa, Humphrey said, are community partners across the spectrum such as faith-based, law enforcement, health services, schools and more. The other important aspect is the family focused component which helps direct people in need to resources within the community and coordinating services on the family's behalf.

"We're talking about families who are experiencing poverty, who need housing and food and support across multiple areas," she said. "That takes a lot of partners coming together to work on their behalf, reducing the number of times those families have to tell their story, the amount of times they have to go from agency to agency and redo their eligibility and develop a new plan."

Humphrey used an analogy of building a new house, with a general contractor coordinating all of the subcontractors to create a home. She said Marshall County navigators will be like general contractors for Thrive Iowa families.

The next step is to create the Community Alliance, a group which will meet monthly to identify the needs of the community, bring partners into the program, see where improvements can be made and what is successful. Humphrey said they will also host an asset mapping event to look at the 13 care areas within Marshall County and which need additional focus.

Mayor Mike Ladehoff said there are a lot of positive things happening in Marshalltown.

"Those things don't just happen," he said. "What we have found is the more you communicate and collaborate, the better off you are."

The city regularly works with Marshall County and organizations such as the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce to get things accomplished. However, Ladehoff said they do not collaborate with everyone as it is difficult with so much occurring. He asked attendees if they would call the mayor to find out about what is happening in a town, but he admitted he does not know everything or have all of the information.

"I'm reminded of that constantly when I get invitations to different things that are happening right in Marshalltown that I had no idea was happening," Ladehoff said.

As an example, he accepted an invitation to attend a Marshall County Food Access Committee meeting and discovered how many groups are working to ensure residents have food. Seeing the success of the food access committee, he is excited about the launch of Thrive Iowa.

"By tying our community together with all of the resources that are available, that makes Marshalltown more resilient and better able to serve everyone in the community," Ladehoff said. ". . . That is why I think programs like Thrive Iowa will help Marshalltown. The resources are here. We just need time to tie them together so everyone knows all the resources."

Participation eligibility

Marshall County families need to meet certain requirements before they can enroll in Thrive Iowa. Humphrey said there needs to be a parent or someone pregnant, have income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and citizenship.

After being referred on the hopehub.io website, families will undergo an assessment to identify which areas need help. That way, help can be provided across the spectrum and there is a better chance to produce positive long-term outcomes.

Families will be able to receive help in the following 13 care areas:

Housing

Recovery

Employment

Transportation

Education

Mental health

Physical health

Safety

Dental

Financial stability

Food

Childcare and

Legal assistance

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.

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