MPACT leaders searching for long-term funding solution | News, Sports, Jobs

YSS of Marshall County Director of Community Engagement David Hicks said it might seem like there is a lot of time between now and then, but in order to secure the funding, the work has to be done now.

“First we have to find the funds,” he said. “If we wait until the last month to look around, that’s four, five months too late. Waiting until the end to take action is really irresponsible.”

Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper said they are talking about it now because MPACT has 18 months of funding left, barring anything unforeseen.

“That can change if expenses go up or down,” he said.

Tupper said it is not easy to get government funding for programs or to get those programs included in the budget.

“There are a lot of hoops to jump through,” he said. “Applying for grants takes time. We need to have a budget discussion with the city. It is good to have those discussions now, which gives more time to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead and work together to find resolutions.”

Running out of MPACT funding is something Tupper has feared about since the program was started. After the Marshalltown City Council pledged $150,000 to launch and fund MPACT, the program’s operations began in 2021. He knew running out was always a possibility, and they have stretched the city funds as far as they can go.

“There are many priorities in city government,” Tupper said. “With the recent reforms to property taxes, the city had decreased revenue coming in and more challenges for funding programs. Money does not grow on trees.”

Tupper does not believe that MPACT will be able to continue without financial backing from the city.

“We can’t fund this program on donations and grants,” he said. “Donations are great, and I am in no way discouraging donations, but those eventually run out. We need a general fund commitment forever. We need that stability.”

The chief hopes people realize the city’s important priorities and that the city government does everything it can do to meet the community’s needs.

“I am not complaining, but if they value MPACT, they need to find the general fund money to support the program,” Tupper said. “I appreciate everything the city council has done. We would not be here if Gary Thompson and the others did not see the value in it.”

During a goal setting session with Story City City Administrator Mark Jackson at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday afternoon, Councilor Mike Ladehoff mentioned MPACT funding as an issue that should be a high priority for the city, and he elaborated further on why he feels the program is so important when reached for comment on this story.

“The Marshalltown/YSS-invented MPACT program has really paid off. A recent survey of the MPD shows very strong support from all levels of the police department. MPACT personnel help the officers who run into situations that may not be in their duties, but the people need help nonetheless. Homelessness, threatened suicides, family situations and more fall into MPACT’s arms,” Ladehoff said. “The officer can return back to doing what they were trained to do knowing the people will receive help. Future funding of the program looks murky at best. The yearly budget runs right around $150,000 per year. With state cutbacks to cities, MPACT may need to be funded from more than one source. Grant funds have dried up. But it does need to be funded one way or another. MPACT is too important and helps too many people who may not receive help in any other way.”

A piecemeal approach

According to Hicks, he and Tupper “Frankensteined” MPACT together, starting with the city funds, and using additional grants and donations. They knew the money wouldn’t last forever. So, to extend the city funding further, they applied for grants.

“We’ve operated knowing there is an end date, and that we have to find funding,” Hicks said. “Now that the main source is ending, I can’t keep putting this together with eight different funding sources. This is not a bake sale thing. This is going to have to be supported long term if we want the results.”

There are entities and businesses in Marshalltown that could step forward, he said. Hicks knows $150,000 per year is a lot of money, but the cost savings are greater than the annual budget.

“We’re not talking $500,000 by any means,” he said. “I think the businesses are looking at the city, and the city is looking at businesses.”

Hicks speculated that the Marshall County Board of Supervisors could get involved with the finances. He would like to expand the program to the county, and use some of the $400,000 in opioid settlement dollars to do so. The settlement comes from the pharmaceutical companies which over prescribed opioids, and money was sent to every single state.

“Any entity can bid upon [the settlement dollars,]” Hicks said. “There’s funding available there. If we get the funding, we can expand countywide. Those dollars are available for 18 years, but there’s going to be other entities applying, too.”

If awarded, the settlement money will be used to acquire a mobile response vehicle and hire a third advocate, pushing the annual MPACT budget closer to $200,000.

“If the county and the city could get together and say this is a mutually beneficial program, it would be great to have buy-in from both sides,” he said. “Maybe there’s a business which would love to be a sponsor and come in with a third of the money. Again, we’re trying to Frankenstein this together.”

State funding is also a possibility. The Iowa Department of Management, Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning (CJJP) is conducting research on MPACT. Hicks said the results should be available this fall or winter.

“When you have statewide leaders saying, ‘We think you have something here. We need to learn more about it so we can replicate it elsewhere,’ that’s a great compliment,” he said.

Hicks hopes the CJJP report might inspire the State of Iowa to commit funding to MPACT. He knows some state legislators have expressed their interest especially with ongoing discussions about police reform and community policing — Rep. Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown), in particular, has been an advocate for the program in Des Moines — but right now, it is a matter of wait-and-see.

“Honestly, this is something that should have been created 50-plus years ago,” Hicks said. “There are always funding opportunities and we will welcome conversation and leave no stone unturned. We need to know what is out there, what is available. There is a lot of start-up money available, but what we need is ongoing funding.”

During the 2024 legislative session, Cahill proposed a bill that would have allowed for the funding of initiatives like MPACT in $100,000 increments, providing it to existing programs like the one in Marshalltown as well as other communities that wish to pilot something similar. The Republican-controlled House leadership, she said, did not move it forward.

She almost secured funding through a different mechanism — the $22 million in opioid settlement money that has not yet been distributed by the legislature — and Cahill said MPACT met many of the qualifications for the types of programs that could qualify for funding. The House passed the bill almost unanimously in the final days of the session, but the Senate adjourned before taking any action on the opioid settlement deal.

“I plan on continuing to impress upon the Legislature that these programs are helping our law enforcement personnel. These programs are helping our residents who deal with addiction or abuse or homelessness or other mental health issues,” Cahill said. “These programs should be funded through the state to help solve some of the issues and provide services for people who need them. The opioid settlement money seems like an ideal way to fund these programs.”

‘We have proved it can work’

According to Tupper and Hicks, the program has proved to be popular among the law enforcement community. An MPACT survey was given to MPD officers, and 85 percent responded. The response and support was something Tupper said is unheard of. Some officers would like to see MPACT advocates on duty 24/7.

“MPACT allows the officers to do what they are supposed to do — help people, diverting people from crime,” he said. “I think the community is safer because of the program. I think we all remember the conversations after George Floyd. All of the communities were asking for programs like this. We have proved it can work.”

Currently, there are two MPACT advocates — Tiffany Beadle and Suzy Reed — who work 10-hour shifts. Trying to meet the desire to have the advocates around during more daytime hours, Hicks said they removed Sunday shifts. That way, two daytime shifts could be doubled up, such as 9 a.m. to midnight on Mondays.

“We’ve played with the schedule to give greater coverage,” he said. “That’s been awesome. It doesn’t leave anyone for Sunday, but that extra coverage has certainly helped.”

In addition to more hours and another advocate, they would like to get MPACT an improved data collection system, such as a software program with a real-time dashboard. That way a Marshalltown resident could log in and see recent MPACT activities, and become more familiar with the work that occurs.

“They could log in and see that MPACT dealt with eight people last night, two were homeless, that sort of software would be really cool,” he said.

In the end, the results created by MPACT speak for themselves, and Hicks and Tupper are enthusiastic about them.

“I think we’ve created a proven program which is very Marshalltown-grassroots-based,” Hicks said. “Who wouldn’t want to fund this? This is a win-win-win. So, we’re going to keep moving forward, doing what we can and the results will speak for themselves.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or [email protected].