Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health
A peer-reviewed study was recently published in JAMA Pediatrics about the impact of the Rx Kids program in Flint.
The program provides cash assistance to mothers and babies in the community, offering $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 monthly for the first 6 to 12 months of infancy.
Following the program’s launch in January 2024, maltreatment investigations among infants in their first six months of life declined from 21.7% to 15.5%, representing an approximately 32% reduction.
Sumit Agarwal, a physician, economist and assistant professor at the University of Michigan, pointed out that about 22% of infants born in Flint were the subject of infant maltreatment investigations before Rx Kids, in 2021 through 2023.
“That’s more than twice the state average, which is about 1 in 10 babies” Agarwal added. “It’s was a little over more than 1 in 5 babies. Now it’s between 1 and 7, and 1 and 8 babies.”
Agarwal said the causes of the investigations being needed could be because of a range of things.
“…We have this classification scheme called neglect or non-neglect,” Agarwal continued. “Neglect is usually the conditions related to economic poverty, housing instability, food insecurity. And then the non-neglect cases are usually related to emotional, sexual or physical abuse. Across all of these types of investigations, we saw declines in Flint after Rx Kids…
“And so that disparity between Flint and the state, which was more than twice before Rx Kids, has been cut down by more than 50%.”
The study compared Flint to a control group of 21 cities including Saginaw, Muskegon, Pontiac, Benton Harbor, Benton Township, Inkster and River Rouge. The other cities experienced slight increases in maltreatment investigations, serving as a comparison point.
Agarwal talked to the Courier about how food and housing hardships, as well as postpartum evictions, brings on parental stress, which can be affiliated with infant maltreatment.
“So, we have another study published in the American Journal of Public Health,” said Agarwal. “It found that about 5% of Flint moms experienced an eviction in the postpartum period before Rx Kids.
“So, housing instability is sadly all too common during pregnancy, just in general…But Rx Kids reduced the eviction rate by 70%. So, that’s a dramatic decrease in evictions. And we know that evictions are a risk factor for infant health treatment, especially in those neglect-related cases.”
According to Agarwal, the peer-review process, which involved evaluation by at least three experts in the field, provides validation that the study meets rigorous standards. He also added that JAMA Pediatics is the top pediatric journal in the entire world!
Agarwal pointed out that fortunately nearly 100% of expecting mothers in Flint are participating in the Rx Kids program.
As a Poverty Solutions affiliate and member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, Agarwal’s role is to bring rigorous evaluation methods to ensure the program’s outcomes are attributable to Rx Kids, and not to other factors, with the goal of influencing policy.
Because of the findings, he is hopeful about Rx Kids expanding into other areas.
To learn more about Rx Kids Flint, visit Rx Kids Flint | Prenatal & Infant Cash Support in Flint, MI ❤️
