Megan Foster Friedman

With funding provided through Governor Whitmer’s Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies initiative, YPL evaluated the effectiveness of a pilot program to allow MIHP provider agencies to bill for additional services and care coordination for families with high levels of need for basic services. Providers received reimbursement for an additional home visit, longer home visits, care coordination services, and a discharge assessment. Key outcomes included social determinants of health, such as food security, financial stability, education, employment, treatment for mental health symptoms, treatment for subs...

The Strong Beginnings program provides home visiting, social support, referrals to resources, and other wraparound services to high-risk pregnant women, new mothers, and babies with the goal of reducing rates of infant mortality and low birth-weight. The Youth Policy Lab has partnered with MDHHS and Michigan State University (MSU) to support the evaluation of Strong Beginnings to determine its impact on rates of: 1) pre-term birth and 2) ‘rapid-repeat’ pregnancies (new pregnancies occurring within 12-24 months of a recent birth), an indicator of positive long-term outcomes for moms and babies....

YPL has partnered with Michigan Medicine (MM) and its MIHP program to evaluate the impact of a modest cash incentive in reducing no-shows among MIHP participants who receive prenatal care at MM.

The Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP) is Michigan’s largest evidence-based statewide home visiting program for pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries and their infants. Despite evidence suggesting the program provides benefits for both parents and infants who participate, MIHP enrolled fewer than 30% of all pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries in the state. Of those who enroll, only approximately 60% fully participated in the program.  The Youth Policy Lab partnered with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to analyze administrative data (vital records, Medicaid claims, and MIH...

During the 2022-23 school year,  Youth Policy Lab partnered with TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) to evaluate the implementation and impact of its Tier 1 Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum as part of a statewide expansion in two intermediate school districts in Michigan. To assess the program's effects on student outcomes related to social-emotional well-being and mental health, a one-year, school-level randomized control trial was conducted. Students and staff from approximately 40 schools gave feedback through surveys at the beginning an...