Rx Kids expands in Michigan with the aim of reducing infant poverty

In the Upper Peninsula, Jackie Tasker-Wilson has to drive downstate several times a month to see her doctors for her high risk pregnancy — trips that set her and her partner back a couple hundred dollars each appointment. That’s money she can’t spend on rent, food or necessities for the baby. 
Kayla Wychopen, also in the U.P., recently gave birth and is living in transitional housing with her boyfriend. She said she constantly worries about finding a permanent place to live and affording food and all of the things her baby will need.

A fast-growing program, Rx Kids, might help them both and hundreds of other families in the state. Rx Kids, which grew out of Flint, is designed to tackle infant poverty by providing so-called “cash prescriptions” — $1,500 mid-pregnancy and then $500 a month up to a year of the baby’s life.