Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with Michigan Advance about Rx Youngsters, a brand new program in Flint, Michigan, which can work to enhance residents’ well being by assuaging poverty within the state’s poorest metropolis. This system, which is prone to start in 2024, particularly focuses on maternal and toddler well being outcomes at a group degree; each Flint resident who’s pregnant might be eligible to obtain direct money funds throughout their being pregnant and all through the primary yr of their baby’s life. RxKids is a collaboration between Michigan State College and College of Michigan. Shaefer, who’s the director of U-M’s Poverty Options, is engaged on this system’s launch.
“That is one thing the place Flint turns into a pacesetter for the nation; that’s a extremely highly effective factor,” Shaefer stated. “We’ve already hung out on the White Home, on the U.S. Capitol, in Lansing, and I’ve by no means had a mission like this the place individuals get this joyful,” Shaefer stated. “I’ve been working in poverty for a very long time, and I believe the design of this and values imbued in it are basically completely different than different efforts.”
Shaefer additionally mentioned this system with WKAR, Vigourtimes and Yahoo! News.
