APRIL 2024

CHALDEAN DIGEST
PHOTO COURTESY FLICKR
Dr. Mona Hanna Attisha visits with students from University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.
Moms in Flint Receive Cash Aid
In a story shared by NPR and featured
on All Things Considered, Dr. Mona
Hanna Attisha is again in the news.
Penned by reporter Jennifer Ludden,
the article details a new program cofounded
and promoted by Hanna- Attisha
called Rx Kids.
Rx Kids is a cash transfer program
that began in the city of Flint, Michigan
in January 2024. It benefits expectant
mothers, regardless of income.
The city has one of the highest poverty
rates in the country, over 50%.
Recipients of the program begin
receiving help during pregnancy. The
initial $1,500 payment helps expectant
mothers receive adequate prenatal
care. After delivery, mothers receive
$500 a month over the course of the
baby’s first year, for a total of $7,500.
The idea is that the money will cover
costs for diapers and formula, freeing
up funds to put food on the table
or pay the rent. Many new mothers
must make a choice between returning
to work and caring for their children
themselves, and this amount, small
though it may be, will make an impact.
“What happens in that first year of
life can really portend your entire life
course trajectory. Your brain literally
doubles in size in the first 12 months,”
While critics worry
that giving cash
aid will encourage
mothers not to work,
evidence suggests
otherwise.
says Hanna-Attisha in the article.
In addition to her practice, she also
serves as a public health professor at
Michigan State University.
The article states that the United
States is one of the only developed
countries that doesn’t currently offer
substantial child cash benefits. Studies
have found such payments reduce
financial hardship and food insecurity
and improve mental and physical
health for both mothers and children.
Ludden’s article underscores the
benefits that improving finances has
on a family and cites the expanded
child tax credits offered during the
pandemic as proof. Luke Schaefer,
co-director of the program and a
poverty expert at University of Michigan,
agrees. “We saw food hardship
dropped to the lowest level ever,”
Shaefer says in the article. “And we
saw credit scores actually go to the
highest that they’d ever been in at the
end of 2021.”
While critics worry that giving cash
aid will encourage mothers not to work,
evidence suggests otherwise. Hanna-
Attisha and Shaefer will measure outcomes
of the babies that are in the program,
tracking their prenatal care, birth
rates, whether fewer people move out
of Flint, gun violence, voter participation,
and faith in government — which
took a major hit during the lead water
crisis, according to the article.
The program is currently funded
for three years. Sources of funding
include foundations, health insurance
companies and a small part of
the state’s Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families.
Hanna- Attisha has heard from other
places around the country who are
interested in creating similar programs
of their own. She was happy to learn
recently that her mother received cash
payments when she was born in the
UK. “And my mom just shrugged her
shoulders and said, ‘Of course we did,’”
shared Hanna-Attisha. “Everybody got
money. That was normal.”
A TTORNEYS & C O UNSELORS AT LAW
16 CHALDEAN NEWS APRIL 2024