When the Marshalltown Police and YSS of Marshall County approached the Marshalltown City Council last year about some funding to begin a pilot program to embed social workers with police officers answering non-criminal calls, the Council stepped up and funded the full amount of the first year of $150,000. The program, called MPACT, Marshalltown Police And Community Tea, knew it would have to raise some funds to keep the program going. Police Chief Mike Tupper said an application was submitted to the Department of Justice.

The $206,000 grant over 24 months will cover two-thirds of the cost for the next two years. YSS of Marshall County Executive Director David Hicks reported to the City Council that from February through September, MPACT has assisted 375 people…and 96 percent of those people have accepted assistance through the work of MPACT.