Pontiac will soon become the fourth Michigan community where pregnant moms and babies are eligible for thousands of dollars in cash aid, with no income requirements.
It’s the latest expansion of Rx Kids, a private-public partnership that began over a year ago in Flint, and recently expanded to Kalamazoo and the eastern Upper Peninsula. It gives families $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month for the baby’s first six months to a year, no strings attached.
Aimed at reducing child poverty and improving maternal and infant health, the program has distributed more than $7 million across 1,800 families in the state, with more than half of those families making less than $20,000 a year, according to its website.
The state has budgeted $20 million in Temporary Assistance for needy Families (TANF) fund to partially fund an expansion of Rx Kids to a shortlist of communities, with the provision that those communities raise matching funds from private donors.
“All mothers and young children will be able to take this opportunity and participate in this program, regardless of their income level,” said Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel on Friday. “Having said that, there are a lot of people in Pontiac who face economic challenges. … We have a lot of low-income moms. We have a lot of single-parent homes. We also have a high infant mortality rate.”
Nearly 800 Pontiac moms are expected to enroll in the first few years of the program, according to organizers, with enrollment opening some time in mid-2025.
Greimel says the city is contributing $500,000 from their share of the state’s opioid settlement funds. That money “is leveraging many more millions of dollars from foundations and philanthropic groups that are eager to make sure that those families that would otherwise struggle to make sure that kids are getting a positive start in life, are able to really get a leg up and make sure that young people have the best possible opportunities,” Greimel said Friday.
Flint and Kalamazoo families can receive the aid for the baby’s first full year of life, while the Eastern U.P. program is currently just the first six months. Pontiac will also start out as a six-month program, but organizers are hoping to raise enough to extend it for the full year.
It’s “a call to action to have the philanthropic community, the business community help us fill the gap so that we really can make this a one-year opportunity for Pontiac moms and babies,” said Erin Casey, director of the Pontiac Funders Collaborative (which is donating $1 million) with the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. The Alix foundation, a family foundation based in Birmingham, is contributing $3.5 million.
“In a community like Pontiac, it's really critical that we support families, so that mom can go to work, so that mom can get the prenatal care that she needs, so that there isn't expenses down the road in terms of healthcare costs,” Casey said. “There really is just overwhelming evidence of why a program like Rx Kids is so impactful on the broader economy in the state.”
Last week, state Senate Democrats unveiled a proposal to “expand this program statewide to break the cycle of childhood poverty and give new Michigan moms and their babies a fair shot at a good life.”
But when a reporter asked Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) how much that would cost the state, and what the breakdown of funding sources would be, McMorrow didn’t provide specifics.
“So we are starting the budget negotiation process at the moment,” she said. “Part of the reason for having this press conference today is to really lay out a vision for the public. We know how popular and successful this program is. And we want to let people know, this is what we are fighting for, as a stark contrast of what we are seeing come out of the state House right now. And this will be a big part of budget negotiations going forward.”
