Rx Kids: A New Maternal and Infant Health Model is Coming to Cleveland

Pregnancy and infancy are critical periods in children’s development and are also the most economically vulnerable times for families. Rx Kids is a public health initiative addressing this dilemma for families in Michigan with a bold approach: It gives moms $1,500 during pregnancy and $500/month for their baby's first six months—no strings attached. Announced in early July, Cleveland has been selected as the first expansion site outside of Michigan.

Founded by Dr. Mona Hanna and Luke Shaefer, Ph.D., Rx Kids is the nation’s first-ever community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program. Launched in 2024 and serving more than 15,000 families, the public health intervention is built upon the principle of trusting mothers. It focuses on improving birth outcomes, increasing food and housing stability, and providing every child a healthy start in life. Now, a new study has found that neonatal mortality—the death of an infant within the first 28 days of life—fell by nearly 50% in Flint following the launch of Rx Kids.

Dr. Mona Hanna is the Director of Rx Kids and Associate Dean for Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. In 2026, Dr. Hanna was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Health for her work leading Rx Kids. She was also named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World and recognized as one of USA Today's Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery efforts.

Join us as Angela Newman-White with First Year Cleveland leads a conversation with Dr. Mona Hanna on the impact of Rx Kids, what Greater Cleveland can expect with the expansion, and the transformative potential of directly supporting families during pregnancy and infancy.

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The livestream will be available beginning at 12:00pm. Have questions for the Q&A? Text them to 330.541.5794.

Production and distribution of City Club forums in partnership with Ideastream Public Media is generously provided by PNC and the United Black Fund.