Rx Kids, a popular cash aid program for moms and babies has just expanded to Detroit, with plans to grow further.
The initiative, co-founded by pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna who helped expose the Flint water crisis, offers a cash payment mid-pregnancy and then monthly assistance for six or 12 months after birth, depending on the location. It was started to alleviate financial burdens for families during an important part of an infant’s development. The program recently launched in Detroit — it’s largest expansion yet — and in March is slated to grow beyond the five counties in the eastern U.P. where it’s currently available to the rest.
Here’s what to know about the program and how to apply.
What does Rx Kids provide?
Depending on the city where it is operating, Rx Kids offers $1,500 in cash assistance before birth and then $500 a month for six or 12 months after birth, for a total of up to either $4,500 or 7,500.
Rx Kids does not issue the one-time $1,500 if someone applies after their baby is born. Parents can enroll up to 6 months after childbirth and can get up to 12 payments but that depends on where they are located and when they apply, according to the program’s guidebook.
Who qualifies?
The program is currently open to eligible residents of participating communities. Applicants must be 18 years old or 16 years old with a parent or guardian’s consent. Applicants must also be at least 16 weeks pregnant or the guardian of a child who is 6 months or younger, and born after the program kicked off in their community. There are no income or work requirements.
Where is the program currently operating?
The program now operates in 29 Michigan communities. Here is where it’s running, according to the Rx Kids website:
- Flint
- Kalamazoo
- Alger, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac and Schoolcraft counties in the eastern Upper Peninsula
- Pontiac
- Clare County
- Royal Oak Township
- Hazel Park
- Dearborn
- Hamtramck
- Highland Park
- Inkster
- Melvindale
- River Rouge
- Ypsilanti
- Gladwin County
- Roscommon County
- Saginaw
- Buena Vista Township
- Bridgeport Township
- Benton Harbor
- Niles
- Buchanan
- Benton Charter Township
- Lake County
- City of Detroit
Where will the program expand?
Rx Kids, which started off in five counties in the eastern U.P. nearly a year ago, is also slated to expand across all 15 counties in the region this March, signaling growth of the program in cities and rural pockets of the state alike.
How is the program funded?
Rx Kids is a public-private partnership, officials said, with funds from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Wayne County and various cities and foundations, according to the program’s website.
So far, Rx Kids has received $306.5 million in state appropriations, for the 2024 to 2026 fiscal years, from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Healthy Michigan Fund.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, for instance, invested $1 million to Rx Kids overall for research and evaluation of the program and is planning to provide another $1 million for Detroit, specifically, said Marijata Daniel-Echols, a program officer who leads the foundation’s Detroit team.
Rx Kids is led by Michigan State University. GiveDirectly, a global nonprofit focused on cash delivery to alleviate poverty, administers the program. About 85% of funding from the state goes to recipients, 5% backs program operations at MSU and GiveDirectly and 10% goes toward overhead such as IT, accounting and compliance, according to the Rx Kids website.
For the $250 million Rx Kids received from the Healthy Michigan Fund, $242.5 million goes to GiveDirectly, and of that, 88% (or $212.5 million) is for cash for moms and infants, according to a breakdown provided to the Free Press by GiveDirectly.
What research is out there about Rx Kids?
Families in the Rx Kids program reported feeling more financially secure and used their cash on baby supplies, food, rent and utilities.
Researchers have also been tracking and estimating early outcomes of Rx Kids.
An analysis released in October from the Kalamazoo-based W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research of the Flint program, for instance, found that Rx Kids could add between 100 to 200 jobs in Michigan a year because it increases household spending.
In September, leaders of Rx Kids released research papers evaluating how the program affects economic stability, maternal mental health and birth outcomes in Flint, where roughly a third of the population lives below poverty.
Among the findings in one report: Evictions fell by about 91% among Rx Kids-eligible Flint moms in 2024 after childbirth, compared with Flint women who had babies the year before. Postpartum depression declined, too, from 46% to 33%.
Rx Kids was also associated with a reduction in neonatal intensive care admissions, down 29% or 68 fewer admissions during the study period, another report found.
Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.