A fast-growing Michigan cash aid program for moms and babies is coming to Detroit.
Mayor Mary Sheffield announced plans to launch of the popular Rx Kids program, which aims to ease the burden on families at what can be a financially challenging but also crucial period for a baby’s development. Led by Dr. Mona Hanna, Rx Kids offers $1,500 in cash assistance mid-pregnancy and then $500 a month for at least six months of a baby’s life, and already operates in 20 communities across Michigan.
Rx Kids focuses on areas with high need — measured by child poverty and maternal and infant health — and 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.
“Today, we take a step forward in our fight against poverty and today we affirm that all children deserve a strong start in life and that the health of a city begins with the health of its children,” said Sheffield at the Franklin Wright Settlements, a human services organization, on Monday, Jan. 5, in her first announcement as mayor.
In Detroit, 44% of children under 18 years old live in poverty, according to U.S. Census estimates. The program is expected to kick off within Sheffield’s first 100 days as mayor. Once Rx Kids goes live, every expectant mom and newborn qualifies, Hanna said. About 8,000 babies are born in Detroit every year.
“Too many of our children are entering life’s journey burdened by financial hardship before they even take their first steps,” Sheffield said. “That reality to me is unacceptable and it demands bold and compassionate action.”
Sheffield, flanked by moms and toddlers at the Monday morning news conference, called Rx Kids a “transformational program” that gives expectant moms dignity to choose how they spend the cash. In other cities, it has been spent on rent, utilities, diapers and food. In Detroit, participating families will also have access to wraparound services, including utility help and tax preparation, in partnership with the United Way and Wayne Metro, she said.
Kyeisha Ford, 27, of Detroit, is a mom of two with another baby on the way. Her doula told her about Rx Kids. She said she was let go from her job during her pregnancy, but the bills didn’t stop. The program takes the stress off of moms, she said. She plans to use the cash aid on her housing payments, to catch up on bills and prepare for her baby. Ford is also happy for other Detroit moms because she knows what it’s like to struggle with a baby on the way. She remembers calling a helpline while pregnant with her first child because she was facing homelessness and about to give birth.
“I am very excited. I am relieved,” she said.
Since launching in Flint in 2024, the program has distributed $20 million to 4,927 families from the Upper Peninsula to cities outside of Detroit. Now, Rx Kids is slated to to launch in Detroit − the largest city yet for the program − where roughly a third of people live below the federal poverty level.
Hanna, who started her career as a pediatrician in Detroit, said the moment was deeply personal for her.
“The families I cared for, no matter what I could prescribe, they were missing that important prescription to treat the pathogen of poverty, but we now have it,” said Hanna, who is also the director of the Michigan State University Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative.
The program is open to eligible participants from counties in the eastern Upper Peninsula and the west side of the state to metro Detroit. Once the program goes live, expectant moms and newborns qualify. Rx Kids is for expectant mothers who are at least 16 weeks pregnant and babies born on or after the program officialy kicks off. There is no income or means testing, Hanna said.
The program has garnered tens of millions in public and private dollars as well as bipartisan interest from lawmakers. Last month, however, $18.5 million in unspent 2025 dollars were clawed back alongside other work project funding cuts by Michigan House Republicans. The cash aid program is still running and remains open in participating communities, according to a statement from Rx Kids on Dec. 23. But the cutback would mean Rx Kids can’t expand as much and would serve about 6,000 fewer babies.
Despite the funding hiccup, Rx Kids appears to be growing quickly. By the end of the month, the program will be in 28 Michigan communities, Hanna said.
Rx Kids received $250 million in the 2026 state budget — setting it up to potentially help tens of thousands more infants in the next few years.
The city of Detroit is investing $500,000 a year for three years. Other funders include: the Skillman Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, Huntington Bank and General Motors. Rx Kids has raised about $9 million, Hanna said, but there’s still a funding gap − amounting to about $2.5 million − and is looking for more funders. The program, after it goes live, is slated to operate for at least three years.
Rx Kids is still waiting for final contracting from the state of Michigan and so that’s partly why the official launch date remains unclear, Hanna said.
Researchers have 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 found that Rx Kids could add between 100 to 200 jobs in Michigan a year because it increases household spending.
And 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.
For more information, go to rxkids.org.
Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.