Ohio's Afterschool Child Enrichment program offers $500 for eligible families

Michelle Houston wanted to send her daughters to art camp this summer at Heritage Christian School.

But the $175 cost for each girl to attend the four-day session was more than the Canton mother of five could afford.

Then, Heritage Christian leaders told her about a new funding source through the state where she could get $500 for each of her school-aged children so they could participate in summer and after-school activities.

“I thought it was awesome,” Houston said. "… I want to make sure that my kids are able to socialize over the summer and get out of the house. They can go out; they can see their friends. They both love art and they love to draw."

The girls, Makayla, 12, and Allison, 11, ended up taking three art camps at Heritage Christian where they learned how to use nature in artwork, how to paint with acrylic, pastels and oil paints and how to paint on fabric.

The Houston family used Ohio’s new Afterschool Child Enrichment educational savings account to cover the cost. Ohio lawmakers designated $125 million of the state’s federal coronavirus relief funds in the last state two-year budget cycle to fund the ACE program as a way to help students recover from the learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Through ACE, a family whose income is at or below 300% of the federal poverty line ― that’s up to $79,500 in income a year for a family of four ― is eligible for a $500 credit for each child between the ages of 6 and 18. The money, which is available to any student educated at home or in a public, private or charter school, is intended to pay for learning activities outside the classroom, such as before- and after-school educational programs, day camps, field trips, tutoring and language, or music classes.

The ACE program offers an online marketplace that lists roughly 500 different agencies that have been approved for providing services and activities. Families also can pay for an activity at a company or agency not listed in the ACE marketplace and then seek reimbursement.

ACE intended to help overcome COVID slide

Colleen Grady, senior program officer for educational options and policy at the Ohio Department of Education, said the money is intended to help families address some of the challenges that students continue to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the money can help students re-engage in learning activities, help provide interaction for students that may not have been readily available during the height of the pandemic and it can help students catch up academically.

"This is targeted to families that may not have a lot of extra resources to hire tutors or access enriching activities like taking children to museums," Grady said. "In the broader sense, it provides more opportunities."

The ACE program began accepting applications last April and 7,885 Ohio families used the program between April and June 30. A new round of funding began July 1.

Grady said the initial number of enrollees was low ― more than half of Ohio students ages 6 to 18 belong to families who fall within the ACE program guidelines ― because awareness was low.

"It was something brand new, so people were not really familiar with it," she said. "As it’s been out there a little bit longer, people are more familiar with it and more providers are being added to the marketplace. Interest is growing."

Grady said the state education department and Merit International, which is the company providing eligible families with their ACE savings accounts and operating the provider marketplace, spent the month of July streamlining the ACE system to make it easier for families to register and to view how much money is available in their accounts.

The education department also has stepped up its efforts to promote the program. The department hosted a booth at the Ohio State Fair where families could check their eligibility and register for ACE.

Grady said more agencies that provide after-school programs or field trip opportunities also are registering to become an approved ACE provider, which also will help get more families interested in the program.

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What educational activities are offered for Stark County?

A search of the ACE Marketplace for Stark County brings up more than 150 providers. A handful of the agencies are located in Stark County, with most of the providers located in surrounding counties. Some of the providers are from out of state.

The Stark County-based agencies range from local public and private schools providing tutoring and after-school activities to local businesses offering music lessons, dance classes and martial arts. The out-of-county providers servicing Stark County offer various educational programs, textbooks for Christian schools and homeschoolers, equine therapy, summer camps, mentoring programs, speech therapy and a variety of resources for homeschooling parents.

Heritage Christian Superintendent Sharla Elton said roughly 15 students used ACE funds to pay for the art, music and other summer activities offered through the school.

"Parents love to get their students involved, and it's no cost, so it's even better," she said.

Elton plans to offer tutoring and after-school programs this fall. The programs would also be available to students who do not attend Heritage, she said.

"My goal would be to have a kind of catalog of options that parents could choose from," she said. "It could include after-school tutoring, art camps, drumming and literacy that we could offer families ― our (Heritage) families and any other families in the community where they could use these (ACE) funds."

The Osnaburg Local School District recently was approved as an approved ACE provider. The district and Green Local Schools are the only traditional public school districts listed as approved ACE providers for Stark County.

Osnaburg Local Superintendent Kevin Finefrock said the district still is in the early stages of its rollout.

"We viewed this as a really good opportunity for our families," Finefrock said.

He said the district plans to offer tutoring in reading and math and is looking at providing experience-based learning opportunities, such as field trips. The district currently doesn’t offer after-school tutoring.

He said the district will begin promoting the ACE funds during its back-to-school information sessions and in its communications to families. A staff member also will be assigned to help families register for the ACE program and answer questions.

More information about the ACE program is available at www.aceohio.org.

Reach Kelli at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @kweirREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio Afterschool Child Enrichment offers $500 for learning activities