Hey BridgeDetroit readers! 👋

What happens when expectant moms get cash payments each month, no strings attached?

Hundreds of families across Michigan are finding out.

Rx Kids, a program led by Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna, is designed to tackle infant poverty by providing so-called “cash prescriptions” — $1,500 mid-pregnancy and then $500 a month up to a year of the baby’s life.

The fast-growing program started in Flint and expanded to Kalamazoo and parts of the Upper Peninsula earlier this year. Pontiac and cities in Wayne County are slated to get their own versions in the next few months. Ypsilanti could get it, too, if the city can raise enough money.

We went directly to pregnant women to learn about their financial challenges and what a program like Rx Kids would mean for them. In recent months, Free Press photographer Ryan Garza and I went to the U.P. to talk to expectant moms and we followed maternal health nurses who visited some of those women. I asked state legislators in the regions where the program is expanding for their thoughts on Rx Kids and the outcomes they’d like to see.

This story takes us far outstate, but as millions of dollars flow directly to families, Michigan could be poised to help answer whether cash in hand does indeed make a dent in child poverty. 

I hope you’ll take the time to read our deep dive on cash aid and what it would mean for Michigan’s youngest. 

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What about Detroit? 

• Wayne County officials said the following cities could get an Rx Kids program, pending Wayne County Commission approval: River Rouge, Inkster, Highland Park and Melvindale. Detroit would not be included in the program, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said earlier this month after his State of the County address. 
• Rx Kids is expected to launch in Dearborn this summer.
• There is great need and interest for Rx Kids in Detroit, said Hanna. There are about 8,000 babies born in Detroit a year, she said, and so Rx Kids would need a lot of matching funds to make the program a reality. “We are ready to launch in Detroit if funds are available. We were really hoping a Detroit place-based anchor funder would step up,” she said in an email.

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On your radar

🚰 WATER AFFORDABILITY: Detroit’s Lifeline Plan, a program that can reduce water bills to as low as $18 a month for eligible customers, has $11 million — enough for more than 8,000 enrolled households to remain on the plan until at least October. The program is not accepting new applications and will reopen if the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department gets additional funding. Lifeline needs about $25 million to enroll the eligible households, according to DWSD Public Affairs Director Bryan Peckinpaugh. The program expects $3.5 million from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) in July and additional state funding as early as October, pending approval of the state budget. Michigan lawmakers also reintroduced statewide water affordability legislation last week, touted as a long-term funding source for Lifeline. 

🏢 TENANTS’ RIGHTS: Nearly a year after the Detroit City Council voted unanimously to create a group to represent and advocate for renters, the Tenants’ Rights Commission met for the first time at the Joseph Walker Williams Center on April 17. The seven commissioners agreed to meet monthly at rotating recreation centers. The commission has a budget of roughly $500,000 from the city’s general fund. During the meeting, the commissioners introduced themselves, discussed next steps such as setting up a website and marketing to get the word out and listened to residents’ rental concerns.

📚 BOOK STORE: It’s the next chapter for Pages Bookshop in Detroit’s Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood — and the new owners say the space will offer more than just books. Read all about what’s on the radar for the beloved shop.