A program that gives direct cash payments to pregnant and new mothers launched Monday across the entire Upper Peninsula.
Rx Kids will provide U.P. mothers $1,500 while they're pregnant, and another $500 per month for the first six months of their baby’s life. This is an expansion to the program, which was already available in the peninsula’s eastern counties and several other communities in the state.
The program's executive director, Dr. Mona Hanna, said the money helps give babies a stable home during a critical time for their development.
“Families are more stable. They have less debt. They can pay down rent and mortgages. There’s less evictions. Improve nutrition security. We just published a paper on diaper hardship, how families have more ability to pay for diapers and change babies’ diapers as needed,” Hanna said during a press call Monday to announce the expansion.
She told reporters that by the end of the call, over a dozen people had already applied from the new U.P. coverage area.
“What we’ve learned in other places, I bet you some of those mamas will be approved today and we might even have cash going out the door today. That is how efficient and effective this program is,” Hanna said.
Rx Kids started in Flint, but it has since grown to cover nearly 40 regions across the state. A mix of public and private dollars helped make that happen.
That includes $270 million lawmakers set aside in the most recent state budget to cover the next three years.
To keep things running across the U.P., Hanna told reporters the program still needs to raise around $700,000 more over the next three years.
While the program has gotten bipartisan support in the past, some Michigan Republicans have begun criticizing it. In the Michigan House of Representatives, Republican leadership has knocked the program for letting everyone in a coverage area participate, regardless of citizenship or income status.
Still, state Senator Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) said he believes Rx Kids helps families better than other efforts.
“It’s a limited amount of help in a limited amount of time. And there’s not really room for scamming the system here because you’re either having a baby or you’re not. I think it’s a far more efficient delivery model. We could certainly roll back some of our other state-based programs,” McBroom said Monday.
