A cash aid program for moms and babies is now open across the entire Upper Peninsula.
Rx Kids offers $1,500 in cash assistance mid-pregnancy and then monthly $500 payments for six or 12 months after birth, depending on the location, and is meant to alleviate financial burdens for family’s during an important part of an infant’s development.
The program − which grew out of Flint two years ago and is funded with public and private dollars − is operating in 39 communities so far and is slated to reach more than 18,000 babies each year.
The recent U.P. addition is the program’s largest geographic expansion so far. Rx Kids launched in Detroit last month.
Here’s what to know:
Where is the Rx Kids cash aid program expanding?
Officials announced that Rx Kids is now available in 10 new U.P. counties: Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, Marquette, Menominee and Ontonagon. Eligible households can apply to receive a $1,500 payment while pregnant and then $500 a month for the first six months of their infant’s life. Moms must be at least 16 weeks pregnant or have a baby born March 1 and beyond. To apply and see other details, go to rxkids.org.
The latest expansion makes Rx Kids available beyond the five eastern U.P. counties − Alger, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac and Schoolcraft counties − where it began a year ago. There, Rx Kids has, as of late February, delivered roughly $1.7 million to more than 500 families. More than half of those families are making less than $50,000 a year, according to Dr. Mona Hanna, co-founder of the program, who helped expose the Flint water crisis. The dollars, she said, are coming at the right time to support families who need it.
The U.P. expansion will allow Rx Kids to reach as many of 2,500 more babies born per year, for at least the next three years, Hanna said during a virtual news conference on Monday, March 2.
Related:
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Nick Derusha, director and health officer for the LMAS (Luce, Mackinac, Alger & Schoolcraft counties) District Health Department said the program is “no-strings-attached” and has helped families with essentials.
“We’ve heard from many families that this program has helped them get to their prenatal appointments, help pay for their housing costs, pay utility bills, buy food, purchase items for the baby, allow both parents to take time off to spend with the new baby and, importantly, to relieve stress on the entire family,” Derusha said.
How could cash aid for families help U.P. residents?
A May survey of Rx Kids participants in the eastern U.P. reported that 84% said the program helped them “make ends meet financially.” Nearly half faced a financial shock, such as a job loss or move, and, of those, 72% used program payments during that time. More than half − 65% − said Rx Kids helped them access health care.
In the northernmost part of the state, where tourism drives the economy, lulls in employment during the offseason makes income less certain. Housing and heating can be tough to afford as residents already struggle with transportation and access to health care, county health department leaders and maternal health nurses previously told the Free Press.
“Listening to our partners in rural Michigan, we hear the same thing, that families are struggling, and there’s issues with transportation and access to health care and closing of hospitals and that they don’t get all the cool things that sometimes folks get down state, so it was really important for us to make sure that we could deliver this program to the U.P.,” Hanna said.
State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, said the U.P. has a declining population issue. The program − which he said is simple and straigtforward compared with government programs − will help families grow and give them a good start.
“One of the best ways to change the population trend is for people to have more babies and this program is something that’s going to not just help the babies that are coming be put in a good place and have a good start, and their families be able to have that good start, but it may also help families decide that they can be bigger, that they can do more, that they can afford to bring more children into the world, which will be a huge benefit to all of us across the U.P., the state and the country,” McBroom said.
He said he’s looking forward to seeing the program benefit areas in the U.P. which have lost vital health care services, such as OBGYN care.
“To have this program come in could really help us bridge the gap until we can see the economic growth that we desperately desire to see,” he said.
McBroom, responding to Rx Kids criticism from House Republicans, said House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, is a “a bit of a budget hawk” but that Rx Kids “rises above and meets the definition of things that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree to when it comes to supporting our communities.”
Rx Kids has garnered bipartisan support though Hall has recently alleged the program gives cash payments to non-citizens to have children. Hanna has previously said that because Rx Kids is a public-private partnership, non-state dollars can support babies without legal status.
Rx Kids focuses on areas with high need − measured by child poverty and maternal and infant health − but is open to moms regardless of income. Early research has shown promising outcomes, including a drastic drop in evictions and fewer preterm births and neonatal intensive care unit admissions.
Mike Snyder, health officer for Delta and Menominee counties, said the additional financial support will offer stability to expectant mothers, young families and the broader community.
“Recently, we were at a local hospital discussing the Rx Kids program with nurses from their birthing center,” he said. ”Upon hearing the benefits of the Rx Kids program, the nurses were able to quickly identify three expectant moms who are currently facing eviction due to not being able to afford their rent payments. They expressed that this money provided by Rx Kids will help these expectant mothers stay in their current homes and provide a stable beginning for their babies.”
Where does the funding come from?
Funders include the state of Michigan, Copper Shores Community Health Foundation, Keweenaw Community Foundation, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the Superior Health Foundation.
“Every dollar raised through local philanthropy helps to leverage nearly $30 million in state funding over three years for the Upper Peninsula,” said Megan Murphy, CEO of the Superior Health Foundation, the regional fiduciary for Rx Kids. The program still needs at least $700,000 in private matching dollars.
Since launching in Flint two years ago, Rx Kids has raised nearly $400 million in state, federal, municipal and philanthropic funds, Hanna has previously said.
Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.