Media

 For media requests, contact Jill Vondrasek at vondras4@msu.edu or (810) 600-9185. 

Every Flint pregnant mom to receive $1,500, no strings attached 
Published in East Village Magazine, August 4, 2023

After giving birth, moms also will receive $500 per month for their baby’s first year to cover formula, diapers, childcare and other expenses.

Dr. Mona's Rx Kids program gets $16.5 M from state; largest investment yet
Published in MLive, August 3, 2023

Funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant serves as the largest investment the program has received.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha holding baby

'A dream come true': In Flint, every pregnant person is about to receive cash through Rx Kids
Published in Michigan Advance, August 1, 2023

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed the $57.4 billion general government budget, which includes the Rx Kids money that’s coming from federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds.

Michigan's new anti-poverty effort: $7,500 for Flint moms, no strings attached
Published in Bridge Michigan, August 1, 2023

The program touted as the first-of-its-kind in the nation, Rx Kids is a $55 million experiment to test whether cash payments protect children from toxic stress and break cycles of poverty.

Rx Kids announcement in Flint

Senator John Cherry announces $16.5 million state funding for Rx Kids to tackle poverty in Flint 
Published in Mid-Michigan Now, July 31, 2023

On Monday, July 31, Senator Cherry discussed the state funding included in the 2024 state budget with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist.

$16.5 million awarded to Flint Rx Kids Program
Published by ABC12 News, July 31, 2023

Rx Kids, the program at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Flint, is scheduled to receive more than $16 million. The announcement came from state leaders on Monday.

Michigan State University campus

MSU receives $423M in state funding - budget includes $16.5 million for Rx Kids
Published in MSU Today, July 21, 2023

State funding of $16.5 million will help launch Rx Kids, the first citywide effort in the U.S. aimed at tackling poverty to improve health outcomes for Flint mothers and babies.

Baby holding mother's hand

Ruth Mott Foundation grants $1.2M to Rx Kids for direct payments to Flint mothers from pregnancy through child's first year
Published by Ruth Mott Foundation, July 20, 2023

The Ruth Mott Foundation’s award of $1.2 million over three years is the largest single grant commitment in the history of the Foundation.

Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha's Vision of "What We Can Do Next"
Published by Early Learning Nation, June 29, 2023

Early Learning Nation magazine caught up with Dr. Hanna-Attisha to learn more about her new organization, her thinking and what drives her.

Mother holding and kissing baby

$500,000 Grant to Support Moms and Babies in Flint
Published by Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, June 16, 2023

Michigan State University receives 1 of 42 grants awarded from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

Downtown Flint, Michigan

Rx Kids Aims to Lift Up the Children and Families of Flint
Published in Spotlight on Poverty & Opportunity, May 31, 2023

Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the MSU-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, and Luke Shaefer, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy at the University of Michigan, spoke to Spotlight about RxKids.

Mother bottle feeding baby

Listen: An Untraditional Solution to Alleviate Child Poverty in Flint
Detroit Today - WDET-FM, May 19, 2023

The program aims to financially support parents by providing them with a cash allowance of $1,500 each month.

City of Flint, Michigan

Flint Showed Us The Dangers Of Poverty. Now It Could Show Us How To Fight It.
Published in HuffPost, May 5, 2023

Mona Hanna-Attisha says she would like to protect her patients from poverty in the same way she protects them from infectious disease, malnutrition and other health hazards.

Mother holding and kissing baby

Mott Foundation Pledges $15M to Initiative that will Provide Cash Payments to Flint Mothers
Published in Flint Side, April 30, 2023

Dr. Hanna-Attisha and the Rx Kids team are currently raising money now to meet the $15 million Mott Foundation match. Enrollment for the program is expected to open in 2024.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha using stethoscope on young girl

'An infusion of joy': How a Flint pediatrician hopes to improve health and dismantle poverty
Published in Michigan Advance, April 30, 2023

In Flint, where systemic racism and governmental failures left the Black-majority city to drink lead-contaminated water beginning in 2014 — a crisis that Hanna-Attisha’s research helped to expose.

Pregnant mother holding stomach

Grant aims to provide Flint moms, babies with cash payments to improve health
Published in Detroit Free Press, April 25, 2023

Moms and babies in Flint may soon be part of an innovative citywide program that prescribes cash assistance as an answer to health disparities.

Baby drinking from bottle

Cash for Flint mothers. Mott to offer up up to $7500 to help baby's first year
Published in Bridge Michigan, April 21, 2023

It is the first of its kind in the nation, according to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, which will grant up to $15 million over three years to Michigan State University to support the program, Rx Kids.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Mott grant could mean $15M to allowance program for kids, expectant moms in Flint
Published in MLive, April 20, 2023

“Early childhood science has demonstrated the lifelong consequences of adversity, but also the promise of bold, preventative and justice-driven interventions,” Hanna-Attisha said.

Mother holding newborn baby

Rx Kids Program Aims to Tackle Poverty to Improve the Health of City of Flint Moms and Babies
Published by MSU Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, April 20, 2023

Rx Kids will be the first citywide program in the U.S. to address maternal and infant poverty with the novel approach of unconditional cash allowances to all Flint pregnant moms and babies.

Mother holding newborn baby

Mott Foundation intends to grant up to $15 million to support direct payments to Flint mothers during pregnancy and first year of a child's life
Published by Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, April 20, 2023

“We’re supporting Rx Kids because of the boldness of its approach to significantly reducing childhood poverty and associated negative health effects,” said Ridgway White, Mott Foundation president and CEO.

Mona Hanna-Attisha with young patient

Dr. Mona’s prescription for helping Flint kids? $500 infant cash allowance for entire city
Published in MLive, March 14, 2023

The program is supported by the Pediatric Public Health Initiative, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, the Greater Flint Health Coalition, GiveDirectly, and other residents and nonprofit organizations.

Blue Flint sign

Watch: Pediatrician advocates allowance for pregnant women, children in Flint
Published in WNEM Digital, March 14, 2023

During Monday’s city council meeting, Hanna-Attisha told council members 50 percent of Flint children live in poverty, which she said affects long-term physical and mental health and education.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Opinion: Rx for Children's Health: Renew the Expanded Child Tax Credit
Published in The Hill, December 14, 2022

"Poverty is one of the strongest risk factors for bad health — increasing the rates of asthma, obesity, developmental delay, infant mortality and injuries."