New Orleans working to get cash payments for new parents
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Rx Kids founder Dr. Mona Hanna, center right, is also known for exposing the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Photo: Monica Morgan/Getty Images
New Orleans leaders are exploring how to provide direct cash payments for new parents.
Why it matters: The payments could combat poverty, which health officials say contributes to high maternal mortality rates and other poor family health outcomes.
The big picture: Rx Kids was founded in Flint, Michigan, by Mona Hanna, the pediatrician known for raising the alarm on the lead water crisis. The program provides a one-time $1,500 payment to pregnant parents, followed by six months of $500 payments once a baby is born.
- The unrestricted payments give all soon-to-be and new parents freedom to cover the bills they're most worried about — and it works, according to researchers' reviews of the program.
- Enrolled families saw a 91% drop in evictions, a 50% drop in neonatal mortality, a 29% drop in NICU admissions, a 27% decrease in low birthweights and an 18% increase in adequate prenatal care, data show.
And that's what got Jennifer Avegno's attention.
- As New Orleans' deputy mayor for health and human services, Avegno has overseen the rollout of Family Connects, a city program that provides free in-home nursing visits for new parents and babies with the goal of improving infant and maternal mortality rates.
- That program, however, has shown "that the No. 1 thing people need help with is basic needs: Food, keeping rent paid [and] the lights on, diapers. That's what we hear over and over and over."
Zoom in: Avegno believes expanding Rx Kids to New Orleans can bridge that gap.
- The program results make it "sort of a no-brainer," she says.
What we're watching: Local officials hope to pilot the program in New Orleans East to start. That'd cost around $4 million a year.
- Extending to all of New Orleans would cost around $10 million annually.
State of play: Michigan's programs have shown a return between $1.60 and $3 for every $1 invested, but coming up with the upfront cost will still take a blend of federally funded Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars and philanthropy, Avegno says, especially as New Orleans itself faces an acute budget crisis.
- "It's not a done deal," she says. "There's a lot to get from here to there, but my commitment is we're going to keep trying."