Detroit enrolls nearly 3,000 families in Rx Kids as Flint data shows 18% drop in preterm births

Nearly 3,000 families are enrolled in Detroit's Rx Kids program, and new data from Flint — where the program launched first — is giving city officials confidence the results will carry over.

Rx Kids provides $1,500 a month to pregnant women and $500 a month for six to 12 months after birth. Results from roughly a year of the program in Flint showed an 18 percent reduction in preterm births, a 27 percent reduction in low birth weights and fewer NICU admissions, according to Luke Shaefer, Detroit's chief executive of Health and Human Services and Poverty Solutions.

Those findings were published in the June edition of Lancet Public Health. Researchers also concluded the Rx Kids model is replicable, suggesting Detroit should see similar outcomes over time.

"We don't have a lot of tools that we know can have effects like this so it's a really big deal," Shaefer said.

Shaefer said the program's impact extends beyond infant health outcomes.

"It's actually a really great economic stimulus too because these families are spending this money at the grocery store, getting diapers, paying the rent buying food — all this stuff is flowing through our local economy," he said.

Funding for the program comes primarily from state dollars. Shaefer said he hopes the data builds continued support across party lines.

"This is a meaningful amount of money that can move the needle on important outcomes and can get huge bipartisan support," he said.