PARENTS can receive $1,500 checks in a “first-ever” program aimed at providing life-changing financial security.
Moms are eligible to receive $1,500 during pregnancy and babies can earn $500 a month for a period of time varying between six and 12 months.
Eligible mothers can score up to $1,500 checks[/caption]
Rx Kids is providing the “no-strings-attached love” as part of a community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program.
The program aims to help families struggling with income plunges and poverty strikes which can occur before the birth of a child and remain high throughout the infant’s first year.
“These first months of life are critical for a baby’s development; it’s also when their families are struggling the most,” Rx Kids said.
“By increasing economic stability, housing stability, food security and nutrition, and healthcare uptake, these payments can improve infant and maternal health and wellbeing, and even longer-term outcomes,” the company stated.
“This is what a society is supposed to do,” Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and public health advocate said. “To take care of our youngest and most vulnerable population.”
ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
Applications are open for parents in Michigan, including the cities of Flint, Kalamazoo, Pontiac, Hazel Park, Clare County and Royal Oak Township.
Certain counties in the Eastern Upper Peninsula are also eligible, including Chippewa, Alger, Mackinac, Luce and Schoolcraft.
Rx Kids said other communities will be added to the list of eligibility soon.
Just note that those outside of the listed areas are ineligible.
Those who do qualify will need to verify their residency and identity.
Eligibility is for people over the age of 18 or people 16 years of age with parental consent.
Applications can be found online and should take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
In order to qualify, You either need to be currently a minimum of 16 weeks pregnant or the legal guardian of a child six months or younger.
The child must also be born after the designated community’s cut off.
Rx Kids accepts several forms of identification to verify your identity including a photo ID, birth certificate, military ID, Native American tribal photo ID, green card or a school ID for those under the age of 18.
After submitting an application, those eligible will have to await verification before receiving payments.
Rx Kids will send out a message to those eligible with information regarding when to expect your first payment.
How does Guaranteed Income work?
Guaranteed Income and Universal Basic Income programs have taken off in popularity recently.
After the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan of 2021 sent stimulus money to local governments, dozens began testing guaranteed income (GI) systems.
The specifics vary, but GI typically involves payouts to people with low incomes. Unlike traditional welfare, there are no job requirements, drug tests, or other strings attached.
Some have pushed for a Universal Basic Income (UBI), which would go to everyone regardless of how much money they make at work. Alaska has used a similar system since the 1970s.
Proponents say this alleviates poverty while incentivizing work, unlike classic welfare, which cuts benefits from people who begin earning “too much” money to qualify.
Opponents argue such a system is too expensive to function on a large scale and suggest Americans should avoid becoming reliant on government money.
With some cities heralding the success of GI programs, some Republican-led states have moved to ban them. States like Texas and Iowa, for example, have undermined major spending plans by pushing against GI.
SETTING NEWBORNS UP FOR SUCCESS
Millions of Americans became eligible to receive $1,000 automatic payments in July after President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into effect.
The accounts are created by the government for individuals born in the U.S. under the age of 18, according to the White House.
The government will deposit an initial $1,000 into the account and allows for parents to contribute an additional $5,000 annually.
Up to $2,500 a year can come from each parent’s employer. The contribution would not count toward the parents’ taxable income.
Those available include children born in the US after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029.
The White House explained the account is basically treated like an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) as the individual would be able to deposit from the account once they turn 18-years-old.
Deposits in the account are required to be “invested in stock mutual funds or exchange-traded funds mirroring the S&P 500 or another American stock index,” the government said.
Under a low-returns scenario, officials estimate the account balance would reach $187,400 for an individual turning 18 in 2043 and $722,200 by age 28.
