Kalamazoo moms can apply to get $7,500 next year. Detroiters could be next.

A program that provides cash payments to expectant mothers and families with babies is slated to launch next year in Kalamazoo, as part of a statewide expansion to help eliminate infant poverty.

“From Flint to Kalamazoo to the Upper Peninsula to Southeast Michigan, Rx Kids is spreading, and we are redefining how we should proactively and collectively care for our children,” Hanna said.

Rx Kids seeks philanthropic matches to support the program across the state, which would open it up to people regardless of their income. Doing so, Hanna has said, would make the program simpler to administer, without the step of determining income eligibility.

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Hanna, a pediatrician who gained national fame after she spotted high lead levels among children in Flint and was among the key people to expose the water crisis, said moms in Flint who participate in the Rx Kids program spend their cash payments on baby supplies, food, rent, utilities and transportation. Diapers, child care and out-of-pocket medical expenses contribute to the cost of raising children.

“Income plunges right before babies are born,” Hanna said. “Moms often have to come out of the workforce and poverty is at its highest spot in the life course at childbirth. Can you imagine? Families are poorest right when a baby is about to be born, and that dip in income persists until the whole first year of life.”

The five-year Kalamazoo Rx Kids program received $5 million from the Stryker Johnston Foundation, $500,000 from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and contributions from the United Way of South Central Michigan and the Bronson Health Foundation, to kick off its first year. Kalamazoo Rx Kids has a funding goal of more than $5 million each year and is seeking donations to continue the program. Kalamazoo will get about $1.4 million per year from the $20 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) for the statewide expansion of Rx Kids.

“We know that every growing family and every baby can benefit from extra support during pregnancy in the first year of life,” said Alyssa Stewart, chief impact officer at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

A survey conducted in May by the nonprofit YWCA Kalamazoo of 102 pregnant people found that about half reported an anticipated increase in expenses once their baby was born, and 74% reported “little to no confidence” in their budget after their child was born, according to Jameca Patrick-Singleton, executive director of Cradle Kalamazoo, a coalition working to reduce infant death, and vice president of community health for YWCA Kalamazoo.

Participants said extra money from a program like Rx Kids would help moms-to-be pay off debt, save money, keep up with housing costs and cover child care. It would reduce stress, they said, and allow families to enjoy time with their new baby without worrying about finances.

“Families will have the ability to immediately access funding that can make the difference in how they feed their children, afford medication, secure safe housing and obtain access to many other helpful resources. … We know that reducing infant mortality is not a quick overnight task, but helpful tools like Kalamazoo Rx Kids will definitely help us get closer to achieving our goal,” Patrick-Singleton said.

About 22% of children under the age of 5 in the city of Kalamazoo live below the poverty line, according to 2022 census estimates. Fifty-three percent of households in 2022 fell below the United Way’s ALICE threshold, which includes people living in poverty and families earning more than the federal poverty level, but who still don’t make enough to afford the basics where they reside.

Toward the end of the year, Kalamazoo families can fill out a form to express interest in the Kalamazoo Rx Kids programbefore the program is slated to go live in January. For more information, go to rxkids.org.

With state funding, Rx Kids could expand into Wayne County cities, including parts of Detroit, River Rouge, Highland Park, Melvindale, Ecorse and Romulus, and the eastern Upper Peninsula, according to Hanna. There is interest in parts of Oakland County, like Pontiac and Royal Oak Township, as well, she said.

“We are working hand in hand with many communities. The number one effort right now is leveraging the private dollars to be able to match the public dollars to able to launch the program. But you will see this throughout the geographic and demographic diversity of the state next year,” Hanna said.

In Flint, where nearly 78% of children under 5 live in poverty, Rx Kids has so far distributed more than $2.7 million in cash to nearly 1,000 families, since launching in January. More than half of the applicants make below $10,000 a year and 4% earn more than $50,000 a year.

There’s evidence that cash benefits for children can lift them out of poverty.

The pandemic-era expanded Child Tax Credit, which provided $250 to $300 per month for each eligible child, reached more than 61 million children and cut child poverty nearly 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.

Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @NushratR.