For New Orleans, the question is not only whether direct cash could help new parents, but whether the city can assemble the recurring funding to provide it. Leaders are exploring a pilot of Rx Kids in New Orleans East, with an estimated annual cost of about $4 million. Officials say the program could address poverty linked to poor maternal and family health outcomes, including the city’s high maternal mortality rates.
Rx Kids was founded by Dr. Mona Hanna, a Flint, Michigan, pediatrician known for raising the alarm on that city's lead water crisis, according to Axios. The program provides a one-time $1,500 payment during pregnancy, followed by $500 monthly payments for six months after the baby's birth. Families can use the unrestricted money for their most pressing expenses. Rx Kids launched in Flint in 2024 using $16.5 million from federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funds approved in the Michigan state budget, according to Michigan State University.
Results Driving the Push
The Flint results cited in the case for expansion include reported declines in evictions (91%), neonatal mortality (50%), NICU admissions (29%) and low birthweights (27%), as well as an 18% increase in adequate prenatal care, Axios reported. The model has also expanded: Detroit launched its largest Rx Kids expansion in February 2026, offering $1,500 prenatally and $500 monthly for six months to families with newborns, with an estimated reach of 8,000 babies a year, according to MSUToday.
What the Flint research compared
Researchers analyzed approximately 4,500 births in Flint from January 2021 through June 2025, comparing outcomes before and after Rx Kids launched with outcomes in similar Michigan cities without the program, according to MSUToday. The comparison provides context beyond Flint alone, but the reported description does not detail how closely the cities were matched or how other changes over time were accounted for. The findings should therefore be read as outcomes associated with the program’s rollout, not proof that cash payments alone caused each change.
In New Orleans, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Jennifer Avegno has overseen Family Connects, which offers free in-home nursing visits for new parents and babies and aims to improve infant and maternal mortality rates. The program found that basic needs were the most common area where families sought help. Avegno has argued that Rx Kids could address that need, saying its results make expansion “sort of a no-brainer,” according to Axios.
Why New Orleans East
City officials hope to pilot Rx Kids specifically in New Orleans East.
According to Axios, a New Orleans East pilot would cost about $4 million annually; a citywide version would be closer to $10 million. Michigan programs have reported returns of $1.60 to $3 for every dollar invested, but a local expansion would depend on combining federally funded TANF dollars with philanthropy. Avegno has said the proposal is not a done deal, particularly as the city faces an acute budget crisis.
A Statewide Backdrop of Preventable Deaths
The proposal arrives amid a stark statewide health picture. A Louisiana Department of Health Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review committee report found that 87% of pregnancy-related deaths and 88% of pregnancy-associated deaths in the state were potentially preventable, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. Non-Hispanic Black women accounted for 58% of pregnancy-associated deaths in 2021 despite representing just 36% of total state births.
Louisiana also faces significant maternal and infant health challenges.
Not New Orleans' First Cash Experiment
This wouldn't be the city's first venture into guaranteed income. New Orleans tested direct cash transfers in April 2022 through the New Orleans Guaranteed Income Program, which supplied $350 a month in unconditional cash for 10 months to 125 “opportunity youth” aged 16 to 24 who were disconnected from school and work, funded by Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which invested $437,500 in the pilot. In July 2024, city officials also evaluated a more-than-$1 million proposal funded by American Rescue Plan Act dollars to offer $40 weekly payments for 40 weeks to up to 800 public high school students through the Rooted School Foundation, as reported by Newsweek.
For now, whether New Orleans can secure the funding blend needed to bring Rx Kids to New Orleans East remains an open question that will shape whether any of this cash actually reaches parents.
