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Michigan cash aid program tailored to new mothers seeks nationwide expansion amid affordability crisis
A cash-assistance program tailored to new and expectant mothers seeks to expand nationwide and become implemented on the federal level.
“States are reaching out to us,” Rx Kids director and pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna told Fox News Digital, Tuesday. “We’re working with them to see how we can implement them.”
Considered the largest cash aid program for prenatal and infant care in the country, Hanna launched the initiative in “response to the Flint water crisis to improve outcomes for kids.”
The cash assistance program is a statewide initiative that’s intended to issue $1,500 cash to new and expectant mothers in the Motor City as well as $500 per month after a child’s birth for at least six months.
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Over 1,000 Detroit mothers rushed to Rx Kids last week, according to the city’s mayor, Mary Sheffield. Detroit officials distributed around $1 million to the mothers as part of the city’s Rx Kids program, which launched the application process on Feb. 9.
The program is led by Michigan State University (MSU) and administered by a nonprofit called GiveDirectly, which facilitates donations and cash transfers.
Since Hanna launched the program in 2024, Rx Kids has expanded to several cities across the Great Lakes State, serving 5,600 families “with more than $22 million in direct support during the prenatal and infancy period.” As the program gained momentum across the Great Lake State, Rx Kids was Sheffield’s first priority when she assumed office January. Detroit has roughly 8,000 babies born in the city each year, Rx Kids reported.
Hanna said that the program is not like any other in the U.S., providing a model for other states to follow.
“So, it’s either municipalities or leaders in different states saying, ‘Hey, we also are looking for solutions that support families in this time-bound way, that is plug and play, that is super efficient, that’s addressing housing and childcare and birth rates — all these different things,” Hanna told Fox News Digital.
She went on to say, “For example, Mississippi just declared a public health emergency for rising rates of infant mortality. So, they’re looking for lots of solutions to improve the health of mamas and babies, and Rx Kids is on the table.”
The Mississippi State Department of Health declared a public health emergency in August 2025 due to a sharp rise in infant mortality, with 2024 data showing the highest in over a decade. The state reported that the overall infant mortality rate has increased to 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The Mississippi State Department of Health did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Rx Kids comes amid a trend of local municipalities providing similar no-strings-attached cash assistance to households that are eligible — usually low-income families. Hanna told Fox News Digital that there is “bipartisan excitement” to implement a “pro-family, pro-child” program.
“Throughout America, families are struggling with housing affordability. They’re struggling with the impossible cost of childcare. They’re struggling with healthcare access and closing up, for example, rural hospitals. Families are struggling with the price of eggs and the price of gas,” Hanna said.
“Here’s this one simple intervention that’s really short, that’s based on global evidence and domestic evidence, especially from the Expand Child Tax Credit, that is supporting families in a really efficient way.
The affordability crisis has troubled many Americans amid rising costs of groceries, housing, and healthcare. The House passed legislation — showing a rare display of bipartisanship last month with a 390-9 vote — to deliver policies aimed at growing the supply of affordable housing in the U.S.
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Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a coalition of over 150 mayors, bids to solve the affordability crisis with cash handouts. The coalition is responsible for over 100 pilot programs launched since 2018 and the establishment of the program in Cook County, Illinois, which was the first municipality to expand a guaranteed income program permanently.
Hanna clarified with Fox News Digital that Rx Kids is not a guaranteed income program nor a universal basic income program.
“I think a lot of states are just interested in doing exactly what Rx Kids is because they know that it’s already built, that it already has proven scale. We are the largest cash transfer of its kind in the country. There’s nothing like us, there’s nothing for whole communities, and they want to go with something that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel with,” she said.
“The work of Rx Kids is built once again on the incredible, robust science of child allowances and that’s when you are giving families with children economic support that has been around for over a century,” Hanna said.