Spanning communities throughout the state, Rx Kids is the nation’s first community-wide parent and infant cash prescription program that rises above political divides to provide life-changing financial security during the critical period of pregnancy and infancy. This session will explore bipartisan and business-sector support for Rx Kids and its pragmatic solution to childhood poverty.
View the full video below.
Rx Kids serves as a rare example of a program that cuts through the noise of partisanship, offering an evidence-based, community-driven model for healthcare support for young children grounded in a simple premise: supporting families during pregnancy and early infancy to improve their outcomes across the board.
“When you grow up in hardship,” said Mona Hannah of Rx Kids, “it impacts your entire future health, wealth, and opportunity.”
Hanna created the program based on her lived experience as a pediatrician, explaining that Rx Kids emerged from her frustration with the reactionary approach to the negative health impacts of poverty. The program functions as a “prescription for health, hope, and opportunity,” providing direct financial support to pregnant mothers and new families. Every eligible mother receives an upfront payment during pregnancy and monthly support after birth, which is targeted, time-limited assistance during the most vulnerable period of a child’s life.
Importantly, Hanna emphasized that the model works across diverse communities: “We can do something like Rx Kids in Flint, but also in places like rural Michigan,” highlighting the program’s adaptability in both urban and rural environments, including the Upper Peninsula.
Rx Kids demonstrates that targeted, evidence-based interventions can reduce disparities and strengthen entire communities. Michael Horrigan of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research brought an economist’s lens to the discussion, showing that the program’s outcomes are not anecdotal but measurable and replicable.
He described the program as an income transfer within the community and explained the economic concept behind its impact.
“One person’s receipt of cash then becomes somebody else’s spending money… and that multiplies down the line,” Horrigan said. These direct payments to families are most commonly spent at local businesses, which, in turn, generate broader economic activity.
In Flint alone, modeling shows that Rx Kids generates between 100 and 200 jobs annually. And beyond job creation, the program delivers a strong return on investment. “The return on investment is greater than the cost of the program,” Horrigan noted, with estimates showing $2.40 in economic impact for every $1 invested.
This proven return on investment is evidence that Rx Kids is not just a promising idea but a scalable, sustainable model for policy innovation.
Launched in early 2026, Rx Kids had successfully expanded into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the state’s most rural and geographically challenging region, and faced different political ideologies regarding social support programs, with their needs often not aligning with those in the Detroit Region. Megan Murphy of Superior Health Foundation spoke about how the program’s simplicity and results closely align with the values of UP communities.
Unlike more complex systems, Rx Kids delivers direct support without unnecessary barriers. Backed by rigorous data and driven by cross-sector collaboration, Rx Kids offers a compelling model for all across Michigan.
“It preserves that family’s independence and their ability to make decisions for themselves,” Murphy said. “It’s targeted support at a very specific moment in somebody’s life.”
This session was sponsored by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.
