Rx Kids provides cash directly to new and expecting mothers in Detroit

A program that started in Flint to help support Michigan's littlest residents has opened in Detroit. 

Rx Kids originally launched in Flint in 2024 as the brainchild of Dr. Mona Hanna, a pediatrician with Michigan State University. 

Mother Krishna Carr says she heard about Rx Kids while in her third trimester. 

"She's a good baby; she's really laid back," said Carr of her one-month-old baby, Kehlani. "When I seen it, though, it was for Flint. I'm like, 'I don't qualify,' so I pushed it out of my head." 

The program provides $1,500 per month to expectant mothers during their pregnancy and then $500 per month to babies for either six months or a year. 

"I have always believed that how we care for our children reflects who we are as a city and who we are as a community. I am extremely proud to bring a program that puts our families, our babies, at the very center of how we govern and how we lead," said Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield.

CBS News Detroit dug into the funding numbers in recent weeks, and Rx Kids confirmed that Michigan State University and a New York charity called GiveDirectly both take some money from Rx Kids to administer the program. 

"Ninety percent of the dollars that have been committed by the state are going directly to the program; that means only 10% is going to the critical infrastructure, overhead that is needed to administer this program, so there is not a program out there that is more efficient than this program," said Hanna. 

In Detroit, participating families will have access to the $500 a month for the first six months of their baby's life. Officials also announced, but didn't provide details, about opening the program up to babies in the Upper Peninsula.