Program to support Kalamazoo parents, kids with cash

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A program that has supported more than 900 families in Flint with the costs associated with having a new baby is expanding to Kalamazoo in 2025.

Rx Kids, a joint effort between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, is being praised as a first-of-its-kind cash prescription program.

Rx Kids Flint rolled out at the start of this year. Under it, an expectant parent can apply to get $1,500 at the 20th week of pregnancy. When their child is born, they are eligible for $500 monthly payments for 12 months. The no-strings-attached payment goes into a prepaid card or direct deposit.

Co-director Luke Schaefer said the results seen in the program’s first year are promising.

“We see families reporting that they can get to the health care appointments that they need to get to and really concentrate on the work of parenting in this critical first year of life when so much happens for families and babies,” the University of Michigan professor said.

Pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna, an MSU professor, leads Rx Kids. She said the program gives struggling parents a message of hope.

“It’s really hard for everybody to have a baby. It’s expensive and we see you and we hear you and we love you,” she said.

Hanna said a major point of pride is that every newborn in Flint has been enrolled. She said not only will families benefit from the extra money, but so will the community.

“Much of this program is about early childhood and bolstering family, financial security and brain development and health equity, which we’re all doing,” Hanna said. “It’s also very much about stimulating and revitalizing local economies.”

This week, plans were announced to expand the program to Kalamazoo .

Pediatricians in Kalamazoo like Dr. Aaron Davies with Bronson Healthcare are praising the move. He says supporting the basics of a child’s needs sets the stage for later health outcomes.

“The commonly quoted statistic is that 80% of our well-being is driven by … food, shelter, the social drivers of health. A small portion of that, about 20%, is driven by what I do as a physician and taking care of somebody when they’re sick,” Davies said. “The commonality of these social drivers is really the resources to be able to take care of ourselves and our families, and that’s, again, the amazing appeal of the Rx Kids concept, is to provide the specific need that people have in a critical period of life and development.”

Alyssa Stewart with the Kalamazoo County Foundation is excited for the opportunity. She echoed Davies, saying the program is a way to address health inequities.

“We continue to have here significant disparities in our infant mortality rates, continue to see that our Black babies are dying at a rate three to four times higher than their white counterparts. And so we see Rx Kids as a tool that can also be supportive of families and hopefully ensure that more kids are surviving and thriving in that first year,” she said.

Stewart said around 60% of babies born in Kalamazoo annually are on Medicaid, a marker of how important the need for help is.

“We really don’t want having a baby, which should be a joyful thing for families, to be a stressor or to be something that throws their financial situation into chaos. We want it to be able to be a peaceful, joyful time for families,” she said.

Program leaders say enrollment is expected to open in 2025. Rx Kids Kalamazoo will be open to any baby born in 2025 or expectant parent who lives in the xity of Kalamazoo.

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