Rx Kids opens cash aid for new Detroit mothers

How it works: The program led by Michigan State, and founded in Flint in 2024, provides mothers $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 per month for babies up to 6 months.

• Expectant mothers at least 16 weeks pregnant or those with babies born on or after Jan. 1 this year are eligible.

Context: Rx Kids says it is the first cash prescription program for mothers and infants in the U.S. It uses private philanthropic and state funding, and expanded from Flint to include parts of the U.P., Kalamazoo, Pontiac, Dearborn, Saginaw and elsewhere.

• It aimed to build on the success of federal tax credits that were found to reduce poverty for low-income families, and programs around the world that provide unrestricted cash for children.

What they're saying: "Rx Kids is not charity, it is medicine," Mona Hanna, Rx Kids' founding director and associate dean of public health at MSU, said during a launch event Monday. "This is what it looks like when we boldly improve health. This is not a pill, it's prevention.

• "We give families a little bit of breathing room … when money is the tightest," said Hanna, a former Detroit pediatrician and known for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis.
• "Because stress, housing instability and hunger makes kids and communities sick."