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.
Police in Birmingham, Michigan, say officers should have shut down a massive pool party in a residential neighborhood sooner last weekend.
More than 100 people showed up for a party in the 300 block of Westchester Way on June 13, when city officials say a private residential pool was rented out to a third party, violating zoning regulations.
“While officers shut the party down and issued multiple citations, the department acknowledges the party should have been shut down earlier,” said Birmingham police Chief Scott Grewe in a social media post. “Protecting public safety and preserving the quality of life in Birmingham neighborhoods remain top priorities. Should an event require intervention in the future, there will be police supervision to ensure the orderly and safe dispersal of attendees.
Homeowners on Westchester Way told CBS News Detroit that the street was filled with cars and some intoxicated partygoers.
“Women, I don’t even know if they were wearing anything, thong bikinis on top of vehicles, twerking,” said homeowner Brian Homer.
Birmingham police confirmed the individual who rented the backyard over the weekend was a promoter. Police say the homeowner and the person who rented the pool were among those who received citations.
Residents told CBS News Detroit that the house has been hosting parties for years and that its pool is listed on Swimply for rent.
“This isn’t the first time; this has been ongoing. This is just the first time he got caught,” said a resident who shares a fence with the homeowner who is renting their pool.
During a Birmingham City Commission meeting Monday night, Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller said that the city had failed in this case.
Homeowners who spoke with CBS News Detroit said they are concerned about their safety, given that the neighborhood is filled with children.
In April, three men were arrested and later charged in connection with a shooting at a short-term rental in the 1400 block of East Lincoln Street. According to police, a party was advertised at the rental home, and three 18-year-old men drove up to the property, where other teens were gathering, when an argument ultimately led to a shooting.
Meet Michigan’s own Skateboard Hall of Famer Bill Danforth
Grosse Pointe native and legendary skateboarder Bill Danforth talks about how it all began for him and how it continues across the country.
Warren — Skateboarders flew through the air at Macomb County’s Eckstein Skatepark, launching off concrete ramps as spectators looked on from the surrounding rows of vendor tents.
Punk rock music from a band on the Creative Grind Fest stage echoed across the park as veteran skateboarders — and a legend in the sport — stood alongside the youngest, offering help and encouragement. Among them was 4-year-old Nikky Bukobich, who said the first thing he learned on a skateboard was “to fall.”
Bill Danforth, a Grosse Pointe South High School graduate, surveyed the scene. With buzzed silver hair, limited edition Danforth Vans sneakers and a white T-shirt, the 60-year-old skateboarding trailblazer talked with fans and signed boards.
“Young skateboarders are the future of the sport, and will be able to carry it on long after we are not,” Danforth told The Detroit News. “You’re never done with skateboarding. But after we slow down, they got to keep that tradition going.”
Danforth returned to Metro Detroit last weekend as one of the newest inductees into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, making appearances at Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf — which Danforth credits with keeping skateboarding alive in Michigan — and Warren’s Creative Grind Fest. As the skateboarding industry continues to grow, Danforth’s induction offers a look back at the figures who helped shape the sport’s early years.
Grosse Pointe meets California
Danforth was drawn to skateboarding as a Grosse Pointe youth when he realized it allowed him to express his creativity like no other sport did.
“I played organized sports when I was a kid. I played hockey, I played baseball, I played golf,” he said. “Skateboarding was unique, and it had no rules. We created our own groove.”
Danforth started skating wherever he could: “Most of it was at schoolyards or loading docks. This is before we were even building ramps.”
Then, in 1978, Detroit’s Endless Summer Skatepark opened in Roseville and Danforth began competing through the Great Lakes Skateboarding Association. These competitions drew attention to Danforth and other Midwest skaters from some of the largest industry groups on the West Coast, earning Danforth a sponsorship from Madrid Skateboards.
“We started getting recognized by California,” Danforth said. “All of a sudden we were sponsored by California companies — we’re getting free skateboards, we’re getting free wheels and we’re getting free components.”
‘Style is faster, more charged’
Art director and brand manager for Madrid Skateboards, Eagle Barber, said that Danforth stood out from others in the way he skated.
“His style is faster, it’s more charged. He was never an apprehensive, laid-back skater,” Barber said. “He was always going faster and bigger, and he had a very certain air of intimidation about him.”
Michigan professional skateboarder Garold Vallie, a close friend, added that Danforth was known for skating anything and everything.
“He could skate big halfpipes, but he could skate street,” Vallie said. “He could skate anything. He had his own style, and people gravitated towards that.”
Jerry Shirts, a skater and artist selling his spraypainted road signs at the festival, had often been inspired by Danforth’s tricks on the board, he said: “He was a big influence on me when I first started skating. I had seen him in the mags and such, and then realized he was from Michigan, so he was my favorite local skater. I copied all his tricks.”
Danforth was also unique simply for being a Michiganian. Todd Huber, founder and CEO of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, said Danforth emerged from a region rarely associated with professional skateboarding.
“He wasn’t from California, and California kind of got the spotlight. He was from Detroit, no spotlight was on him,” Huber said. “He was cut from a different cloth, and he did things differently.”
Growing up in Michigan forced skaters like Danforth to be resourceful: “We had to fight a lot of issues just to be a skateboarder in Michigan. Nothing was given to us; we earned it out of our own blood, sweat and tears. We were skateboarders without attitudes in the Midwest. California was a bunch of attitudes with skateboards.”
‘The American Nomad’
The same determination that helped Danforth break into the sport also took him far beyond Michigan. Danforth flew, drove and hitchhiked across the world, skating any terrain he could find and earning him the nickname “The American Nomad.”
His journeys included a trip to Tahiti in the 1980s. Intended as a skateboarding clinic and demonstration tour, the trip turned into what Danforth called an unexpected adventure when political unrest erupted on the island. Danforth evacuated before continuing his travels through New Zealand and Australia.
Stories like these helped make him one of skateboarding’s most recognizable figures during the 1980s.
“He had the number one-selling board in the United Kingdom. He had one of the number one-selling boards in America,” said George Leichtweis, founder of Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf. “And he would go anywhere with anybody in skating, and that’s a level of respect to the core of skateboarding.”
Memorabilia, renewed demand
Today, one of Danforth’s signature boards is part of the Smithsonian’s collection, alongside a copy of “Street Survival,” an instructional VHS video starring Danforth that helped teach a generation of skateboarders.
“He was definitely a really influential skater of the ’80s,” said Jane Rogers, a curator with the Smithsonian. “His board had a lot of cool elements — the graphic and the way the board was shaped. The circle of skulls definitely represents that time.”
Madrid Skateboards recently reissued several of his signature boards as part of a limited-edition collection. Only 200 of each design were produced, and the company said Danforth’s boards were the strongest sellers in its Gold Reissue Series.
Danforth has his own board company, American Nomad, where boards cost upwards of $95. Reissues or originals of Danforth’s signature boards can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars, according to industry experts.
Such demand was visible during Creative Grind Fest. There, the Modern Skate & Surf tent reported strong interest in Danforth’s Hall of Fame commemorative deck, selling for $119, and his Madrid Misfit reissue boards, priced at $84.
“A big percentage of people are buying these things for the collectability aspect of it,” Barber said.
For many collectors, the boards represent more than a piece of equipment, skateboarding industry expert Iain Borden said: “To some extent, people are buying back the youth that they had.
“A lot of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s who can’t skate anymore, they’ve got injuries, they’re too heavy, they’re out of practice, but they still have this relationship to skateboarding that’s been a central part of their life. Board collecting is a way of keeping up that relationship.”
‘People can relate to Bill’
Danforth’s influence isn’t measured solely by the value of his memorabilia. Those who know him often point to his impact off the board as his most lasting contribution.
Danforth has spent decades mentoring younger skaters and supporting Native American skateboarding programs and Michigan skateparks, saying it is important to “share our knowledge with everybody”.
“People love Bill because people can relate to Bill,” said Creative Grind Fest organizer Bridget Harrington Renteria. “He’s great with kids, and he’ll talk to anybody. He’s got time for everybody.”
Among those eager to meet Danforth was 9-year-old Junior Wilie, whose admiration for the skateboarding pioneer was evident. With a photo of Danforth hanging on his bedroom wall, Wilie was excited to get his skateboard signed by him and other Michigan professionals. Wilie toted his skateboard around the park, darting in and out of vendor tents with his parents to find the perfect items.
Wilie wasn’t the only one eager to attend. Miguel Lynn rode his skateboard down into the concrete bowl before accelerating back up and over the rim. Lynn, who has been skateboarding for more than 20 years, said he was excited to learn Danforth would be attending the festival.
“He’s awesome. I look up to that guy,” Lynn said. “He’s been skating for so long, being that old, being able to skate, it’s amazing.”
Vallie was among the skateboarders mentored by Danforth. What began with drawing pictures of Danforth in class as a child eventually led to years of skateboarding and traveling alongside him.
“I think the term legend gets thrown around too much,” Vallie said. “But I do think he embodies every part of what that word encompasses — not only from his skateboarding accomplishments, but bringing skateboarding back to Michigan and helping kids.”
atisch@detroitnews.com
Chartreuse Kitchen and Cocktails is best known for its farm-to-table American cuisine. It has earned numerous accolades, including Yelp’s No. 1 Detroit restaurant in 2017 and 2018.
Freya, known for its prix fixe tasting menus typically served with wine, has also earned high praise, including a spot in the New York Times’ most exciting restaurants list.
The 20 chefs will headline events in their hometowns as part of the foundation’s Taste America culinary tour, which begins Sept. 16 in New Orleans and continues in cities across the country through March 2027.
The foundation said the chefs were selected not only for culinary talent but also for their work beyond the kitchen, including efforts such as supporting sustainable agriculture, investing in restaurant teams, elevating quality ingredients and advocating for a stronger food system.
Chefs in Houston, New York, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles and New Orleans are among the 20 to watch.
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