Michigan
Program providing $7,500 for Flint moms and babies expected to expand across Michigan
A program on a mission to eliminate deep infant poverty by giving cash payments to pregnant moms and babies in Flint is expected to expand to cities across Michigan.
Rx Kids, regarded by officials as a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, provides moms with $1,500 mid-pregnancy for essentials like food, prenatal care, cribs or other needs. Then, after birth, families get $500 a month for the first year of the infant’s life, for $7,500 in total. The no-strings attached program, which does not have income restrictions for eligibility, launched in January.
Now, thanks to $20 million in a recently approved state budget, the program is tentatively slated to grow beyond Flint to five counties in the eastern Upper Peninsula, including Alger, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac and Schoolcraft; the cities of Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Dearborn, Highland Park, River Rouge and parts of Detroit. The budget was sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is expected to sign it, the Free Press reported last week.
If Rx Kids is able to raise the needed philanthropic dollars, programs could go live in other cities as early as January.
“Rx Kids is a prescription for health, hope and opportunity,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, director of Rx Kids and associate dean of public health at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Hanna, a pediatrician who spotted high lead levels among children in Flint and was among the key people to expose the water crisis, said she had wished for a “prescription” to take away poverty for her patients.
In Flint, where nearly 78% of children under 5 live in poverty, Rx Kids has so far distributed more than $2 million in cash to 828 families. About 60% of the families have an annual household income of less than $10,000, Hanna said. With the dollars in hand, families are able to pay their rent, utilities, food and diapers. They can put the money into savings.
“This is generational, historic work,” she said.
Cash can alleviate poverty
There’s evidence that cash benefits for children can lift them out of poverty.
Rx Kids co-director H. Luke Shaefer pointed to the pandemic-era expanded Child Tax Credit, which provided $250 to $300 per month for each eligible child. The payments reached more than 61 million children and nearly cut child poverty in half in 2021, compared with the year before, according to Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy. After the benefits ended, child poverty rose sharply in 2022. January of that year saw 3.7 million more kids in poverty compared with December 2021.
“For that brief, shining moment, we lifted millions of children out of poverty. We saw food hardship among families with children fall to the lowest level that we’ve ever recorded. We saw the credit scores of families hit their all-time high,” Shaefer, who is a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan and director of the Poverty Solutions initiative, said. “And then we reversed course and weren’t able to extend that past the one year and we saw child poverty spike — the highest one-year increase in history. We saw food hardship increase and just the financial security of families doing worse.”
Shaefer said Rx Kids, a child cash benefits initiative, falls within the same family of programs as universal basic income, recurring cash payments that are not targeted, and guaranteed basic income, which provide no-strings-attached cash payments that are often geared toward people with the greatest needs. The latter two are largely untested, he said, but multiple countries have some type of child cash transfer program.
“Investments in children pay dividends over the long term. Also, families with children are often sort of the most economically vulnerable,” Shaefer said.
Program to expand but needs philanthropic funds
Lawmakers approved $20 million in funding from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for Rx Kids.
The five-year Flint program relies on a combination of public dollars, including TANF, alongside philanthropic contributions, from funders like Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The program is slated to expand to other parts of the state, but organizers need philanthropic matches to make it available to moms in those municipalities, regardless of their income.
“There’s a private part that is necessary,” Hanna said. “We will not launch this only for low-income people. It must be a universal program.”
Dearborn, for instance, would get about $3 million in state TANF funding that could support the first four cash payments for lower income families. To extend to the full 12 months and to make it open for all moms and babies in a given area — like the Flint program — Rx Kids would need to raise another $9.5 million. An alternative option would be to make it a perinatal program — providing the first four payments for families regardless of income. The perinatal version of the program would require nearly $2 million for Dearborn.
In the case of Detroit, of the $20 million allocation, the city would get about $10 million in TANF, Hanna said, covering about 3,000 babies a year. To make it similar to the one in Flint, Rx Kids needs to raise an additional $32 million but $7 million to launch a perinatal program. For Detroit, Rx Kids will be looking at areas of greatest need, likely based on highest poverty rates by ZIP code. A spokesperson for the Detroit Health Department said it is not involved with the Rx Kids program at this time.
About 49% of children under the age of 5 in Detroit live below the poverty line, according to 2022 Census estimates. In River Rouge, the child poverty rate is nearly 68%.
In Wayne County, 52% of households in 2022 earned more than the federal poverty level but still struggled to make ends meet. In other words, they fall within the United Way’s ALICE threshold, meaning they aren’t technically living in poverty but don’t earn enough to afford the basics where they reside.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services, said the county is eager to make the program a reality.
“Stable housing or good healthy food or a safe living environment or transit opportunities — addressing those issues are critical to giving every child that best first start at their life,” El-Sayed said. “And so, when you think about what it is that the government and philanthropy, even society, can do to make sure that everybody has an equal shot at a dignified life, it’s making sure that, at that transition of life, that the resources that people need are available, and cash is the single best way to do that.”
Ali Abazeed, founding director of the Dearborn Department of Public Health, said there’s no better intervention than investing in the period before and after pregnancy. He pointed to how the birth of a child increases the risk of poverty, especially for first-time mothers.
“Giving people cash — especially when they’re dealing with this thing that causes a spike in poverty, both before and after the birth of the child — that’s redefining the social contract, that’s redefining what we do for one another, that’s redefining how we support one another and our residents,” Abazeed said.
Abazeed said the city plans to allocate $1 million in federal funding to the program, and is talking to local and state partners for further investments.
“We have quite the lift ahead of us,” he said, but is confident the program will launch for Dearborn residents.
Over on the southwest side of the state, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation has committed $500,000 so far and is pursuing local government and philanthropic funds for a full 12-month program. Exploring an Rx Kids initiative is among the top priorities for the Kalamazoo City Commission as part of the city’s 2025 budget, but funding has not yet been determined, according to a spokesperson for the city of Kalamazoo.
“Rx Kids will ensure that our newborn residents are born into a thriving community, where their family’s income level does not adversely impact their life’s trajectory,” Grace Lubwama, CEO of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, said in a statement.
Rx Kids is exploring what the program could look like outside of Michigan, too. Hanna said there is interest in both red and blue states that have unspent TANF dollars.
“We started this in Flint, but the intent was never to end in Flint,” Hanna said.
Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @NushratR.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Black-legged ticks have been increasing across Michigan this summer, raising concerns about tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease.
—> Michigan health officials alarmed by surge in Lyme disease cases
Researchers at Michigan State University say the large white-tailed deer population plays a key role in spreading these ticks.
To address the problem, MSU scientists are testing food capsules containing biomarkers to see if deer will eat them.
Each capsule currently includes corn, alfalfa, molasses, and a biomarker that helps track how many deer consume the capsules.
If successful, the capsules will eventually contain a vaccine to help deer build immunity to ticks, similar to how dogs are vaccinated.
The goal is to reduce the number of ticks on deer, which could lower the risk of tick-borne diseases for people spending time outdoors.
MSU professors describe this as an innovative method that could be a game-changer for controlling black-legged ticks and Lyme disease in Michigan. The capsules are being introduced in selected parks and land preserves in the Mid-Michigan area as part of the early phase of this research.
In the future, the team plans to add a drug or vaccine to the capsules to eliminate ticks on deer, aiming to stop the problem at its source.
—> 4 ways to protect yourself from ticks in Michigan, and 4 things to do after you’re outside
Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
President Donald Trump’s administration renewed its request Sunday for a federal appeals court to let him fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, a move the president is seeking ahead of the central bank’s vote on interest rates.
The Trump administration filed a response just ahead of a 3 p.m. Eastern deadline Sunday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, arguing that Cook’s legal arguments for why she should stay on the job were meritless. Lawyers for Cook argued in a Saturday filing that the Trump administration has not shown sufficient cause to fire her, and stressed the risks to the economy and country if the president were allowed to fire a Fed governor without proper cause.
Sunday’s filing is the latest step in an unprecedented effort by the White House to shape the historically independent Fed. Cook’s firing marks the first time in the central bank’s 112-year history that a president has tried to fire a governor.
“The public and the executive share an interest in ensuring the integrity of the Federal Reserve,” Trump’s lawyers argued in Sunday’s filing. “And that requires respecting the president’s statutory authority to remove governors ‘for cause’ when such cause arises.”
Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has accused Cook of signing separate documents in which she allegedly said that both the Atlanta property and a home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, also purchased in June 2021, were both “primary residences.” Pulte submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which has opened an investigation.
Trump relied on those allegations to fire Cook “for cause.”
Cook, the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor, referred to the condominium as a “vacation home” in a loan estimate, a characterization that could undermine claims by the Trump administration that she committed mortgage fraud. Documents obtained by The Associated Press also showed that on a second form submitted by Cook to gain a security clearance, she described the property as a “second home.”
Cook sued the Trump administration to block her firing and a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
The administration appealed and asked for an emergency ruling just before the Fed is set to meet this week and decide whether to reduce its key interest rate. Most economists expect they will cut the rate by a quarter point.
It’s an in-state matchup on Saturday, Sept. 13, as Michigan football (1-1) takes on the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-1) for the Wolverines’ second home game of the season.
After a loss on the road at Oklahoma last week in which Michigan struggled to generate offense, the Wolverines — and particularly freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood — are looking to sharpen their offensive skills against a weaker Chippewas.
They’ll have to do so without coach Sherrone Moore, however. The coach is serving the first of a two-game suspension sanctioned by the school for his role in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. In the interim, Biff Poggi will lead the Wolverines.
Michigan’s task will be to hone its skills on both sides of the ball, but with an emphasis on offense. The Wolverines struggled to run the ball last week and Underwood had difficulty connecting with receivers downfield as well. Central Michigan provides a perfect opportunity for Michigan to build its offensive cohesiveness before beginning Big Ten play.
Follow along below for live updates.
Michigan football vs. Central Michigan early availability report
Michigan – Out: QB Davis Warren (knee), OT Andrew Babalola (knee). Probable: DB Rod Moore (knee), DB Shamari Earls (undisclosed), DB Caleb Anderson (undisclosed). Questionable: TE Marlin Klein (right foot/ankle), DB Zeke Berry (lower body), RB John Volker (undisclosed), LB Jaydon Hood (undisclosed), RB Bryson Kuzdzal (undisclosed), RB Donovan Johnson (undisclosed), edge Devon Baxter, DT Ike Iwunnah (undisclosed), WR C.J. Charleston (undisclosed). Doubtful: OL Gio-EL Hadi (left ankle/foot)
Central Michigan – Missed Week 2: TE Rory Callahan, OL John Iannuzzi.
Matchup: No. 22 Michigan (1-1) vs. Central Michigan (1-1)
Kickoff: Noon Saturday, Sept. 13; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WCSX-FM (94.7).Looking for a free mini puzzle? Play the USA TODAY Quick Cross now.
Line: Wolverines by 27½.
Michigan football schedule 2025
Week 1: W, 34-17 vs New Mexico.
Week 2: L, 13-24 at Oklahoma
Week 3: vs Central Michigan, Saturday Sept. 13, noon ET (Big Ten Network).
Week 4: at Nebraska, Saturday Sept. 20, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS).
Week 5: BYE.
Week 6: vs Wisconsin, Saturday Oct. 4, 12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.
Week 7: at USC, Saturday Oct. 11, time TBD.
Week 8: vs Washington, Saturday Oct. 18, time TBD.
Week 9: at Michigan State, Saturday Oct. 25, time TBD.
Week 10: vs Purdue, Sautrday Nov. 1, time TBD.
Week 11: BYE.
Week 12: at Northwestern, Saturday Nov. 15, time TBD.
Week 13: at Maryland, Saturday Nov. 22, time TBD.
Week 14: vs Ohio State, Saturday Nov. 29, noon ET (Fox).
Contact Matthew Auchincloss at mauchincloss@freepress.com.
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