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New research published in JAMA Pediatrics, a section of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found a statistically significant decrease in the number of Child Protective Services investigations in Flint after the implementation of Rx Kids.
The prenatal and infant direct cash support program started in Flint and has since expanded throughout the state.
The study, done by researchers from the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michigan State University, showed a 7-percentage-point decrease in the investigated allegation rate among infants born in Flint, which corresponds to a 32% decrease compared to the period prior to Rx Kids interventions.
“In the 3 years prior to the implementation of Rx Kids, the proportion of infants with an investigated allegation within the first 6 months of life was 21.7% (646 of 2971 infants) in Flint and 19.5% (3921 of 20124 infants) among control cities,” according to the study. “After implementation of Rx Kids in 2024, the investigated allegation rate decreased to 15.5% (165 of 1065 infants) in Flint, falling below the investigated allegation rate of 20.6% (1303 of 6317 infants) among the control cities.”
Researchers estimate that the program prevented approximately 57 infants from experiencing a child welfare investigation in its first year alone, with a press release from the Rx Kids team celebrating the study as demonstrating the benefits provided by economic support during pregnancy and early infancy.
“These findings, now published in JAMA Pediatrics, underscore the powerful role that economic stability plays in protecting children,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, Rx Kids director and associate dean of public health at Michigan State University. “By trusting families and investing in them during the earliest, most vulnerable period of life, we are not only improving health outcomes; we are preventing trauma before it starts. This is what community-driven public health looks like.”
The study acknowledges a number of limitations with the study, including the fact that only one post-intervention year — 2024 — was included. Additionally, the research included all infants born in Flint in 2024 after Rx Kids implementation rather than actual enrollment in the program, but noted that the high uptake rates of the program should mean that the estimates are very close to reality.
“Our research compared what happened in Flint before and after Rx Kids launched to what we saw in a control group and the results are clear,” said lead author Dr. Sumit Agarwal, a physician and health economist at the University of Michigan, in the press release. “During the first year of Rx Kids, infants in Flint experienced fewer investigations for maltreatment. These results show that providing early economic support to families can make a real difference and should challenge us to rethink how we can proactively support families.”
Another study author, Will Schnieder, associate professor of social work and faculty director of the Children and Family Research Center at the University of Illinois, added that while it is well-documented that poverty is one of the strongest drivers of child maltreatment risk, research into Rx Kids shows the opposite of that, which is that a financial buffer around the birth of a child can lead to fewer children being harmed.
Since launching in Flint in 2024, Rx Kids has expanded to 42 communities, and will expand to an additional 20 communities across Michigan in summer 2026 — the program’s largest expansion yet.
That expansion is coming as the program is under heavy fire from top Republicans in the state Legislature, notably both House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and House Appropriations Chair Ann Bollin (R-Brighton). Both have advocated to cut out all state funding for the program — $20 million — in addition to the significant cuts made to the program’s state funding in a unilateral decision from House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee at the end of 2025.
Hall and Bollin have each launched a number of allegations, without evidence, against the program in recent months over what the money provided to families is used for, though a report published by Rx Kids in March shows virtually no spending on luxury or discretionary items.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: [email protected].
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