REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Maternal and Infant Cash Prescription Program
“Reimagining How Society Supports Families"
The Policy
Rx Kids builds on the success of the expanded Child Tax Credit in 2021—which lifted a record 2.9 million children out of poverty. The program launched in Flint, Michigan in January 2024, and provides all expectant mothers in Flint with a “prenatal prescription” of $1,500 and all infants a monthly prescription of $500 until age one ($6,000 newborn benefit). Rx Kids leverages private and public dollars from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to support mothers during pregnancy with resources for food, prenatal care, rent, cribs, and more. After birth, families can spend their monthly prescriptions on infant needs like formula, diapers, and childcare.
The Strategy: How Did Michiganders Win This Policy?
The program’s founder, Dr. Mona Hanna—a Flint pediatrician and Michigan State University professor who also exposed the Flint Water Crisis—utilized long-standing relationships with city and state officials to get Rx Kids implemented. Dr. Mona worked with parents, educators, grassroots organizations, and partners including the Greater Flint Health Coalition, Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, and Give Directly, to establish a coalition dedicated to improving infant and maternal health and community-wide outcomes. For this to be successful, Dr. Mona and advocates emphasized research that shows cash transfers not only positively impact immediate health outcomes, but other related long-term factors such as boosted early cognitive development, better school performance, reduced incidence of child abuse, and increased benefits across health, education, nutrition, lifetime earnings, and reduced anxiety and depression into later adulthood.
Rx Kids is a form of “targeted universalism,” which likely helped the program escape the crosshairs of politicization. Targeted universalist programs support the universal needs of everyone under a shared goal (i.e., improving maternal and infant health and outcomes), while also recognizing and addressing the specific needs of particular groups or populations. In Flint, Michigan, over half of the population is Black and the child poverty rate is over 50 percent. This strategy allows everyone, from those most in need of support to those who are financially secure, to receive no-strings-attached dollars, under the shared goal of supporting mothers and babies.
The Program’s Impact
As of September 9, 2024, Rx Kids has prescribed $2,965,000 with 1,027 families and 754 babies enrolled in the program. While it is too early to determine the program’s direct impact to date, researchers at Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan will examine its effects using data and interviews from participating mothers to be released this Fall. Early survey results from mothers currently participating in the program show that 80 percent of respondents feel that Rx Kids has helped them make ends meet and feel more secure in their finances. Another 72 percent of respondents feel that Rx Kids has helped improve their health and their infants’ health.
In July 2024, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the state’s budget into law, allocating TANF funding to support Rx Kids in Flint for five years. Building on the Flint program’s early success, the 2025 budget included $20 million to expand the program to additional low-income Michigan communities, which could launch as early as 2025. Capturing the nation’s attention, the $6,000 newborn credit was included in Vice President Harris’ policy platform for President.
Messaging Guidance: Words That Work
Rx Kids is unique not only due to the first-of-its-kind cash feature, but also in its aim to change the narrative around poverty and deservedness. Historically, programs that provide assistance to individuals with lower incomes have been met with stigmatization and skepticism. Instead, Rx Kids reframes prejudged narratives around poverty by supporting and celebrating moms and babies, and entrusting and empowering mothers to make their own decisions about how to best care for their families. Dr. Mona accomplished this “narrative reframing” by ensuring the program did not contain any onerous eligibility requirements, or other restrictions on income or directed spending that could stigmatize the program. After the program’s launch, RxKids hosted a community-wide celebration on Valentine’s Day and other events like a “Baby Parade” and a Mother’s Day event with special gifts and activities for Moms to celebrate motherhood and reinforce the idea that motherhood should be a time for joy and support.
Additional Resources:
The Progressive Caucus Action Fund thanks Dr. Mona Hanna for her comments and insights.
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