In 2021, during the previous state budget cycle, lawmakers used federal pandemic relief funds to create the Afterschool Child Enrichment (ACE) educational savings account. The program, as initially designed, provided families whose income fell below 300 percent of the federal poverty line with $500 a year per student to pay for enrichment activities chosen by parents, regardless of where their children attended school. Examples of such activities included before- or after-school educational programs, day camps, field trips, language or music classes, and tutoring.
It might seem surprising that the state was willing to pay for activities happening outside the walls of a school building. But doing so was a smart move, as there’s a growing body of research indicating the positive impact of extracurricular and enrichment activities for kids. One study even found that consistent participation in extracurricular activities between eighth and twelfth grade predicted academic achievement and prosocial behaviors. Unfortunately, research also indicates that participation in such activities is less common among students from lower-income families, largely due to the cost of participating and a dearth of opportunities. The pandemic made things worse: Providers closed, low-income families had less to spend, and the enrichment gap widened.
ACE was created at a time when Ohio families were still reeling from the impacts of the pandemic. As a result, the program had the potential to be hugely beneficial and popular. Families struggling to make ends meet would be able to ensure their kids had access to the same extracurricular opportunities as their more affluent peers. And ACE accounts as a whole could reduce at least some of the disparities between lower- and higher-income students statewide.
That’s not what happened (at least, not at first). Within a year of their creation, most Ohio families had no idea that ACE accounts even existed, let alone that they were potentially eligible for money. Coverage of the program in June 2022 in Gongwer Ohio noted that although $50 million had been allocated to support the program during its first year, only $106,749 in claims had been approved for just over 6,000 families. One state official at the Ohio Department of Education acknowledged that the program was “well below capacity” both in terms of participating families and providers, and that the department was “working on developing a package of marketing materials and social media content” to increase awareness and participation.
Legislation signed by the governor in early 2023 extended the ACE program through 2024 and increased the amount that families could be awarded from $500 to $1,000 per child. It also expanded eligibility to encompass families whose income is at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, those who participate in income-based programs like Medicaid and SNAP, and those who live in districts that include EdChoice-eligible schools or have been identified as experiencing high rates of chronic absenteeism (ODE provided a full list of eligible districts).
These were welcome adjustments that provided more Ohio parents with extra dollars to support their children’s needs. For a family with two children, the ACE funding is not a trivial amount ($2,000) and could cover a large range of enrichment activities. For families with more kids, the supplemental supports grow larger.
But the extra dollars and increased eligibility wouldn’t mean much if parents remained uninformed. Fortunately for Ohio families, ODE stepped up to the plate and hit parental outreach out of the park. Details about the program, including the increased dollar amount available per student and expanded eligibility rules, were published in newspapers in major cities all over the state, including Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Canton, and Toledo. Local television stations ran detailed stories about ACE during news programming. Online news sources covered the program. Ads appeared on the websites of organizations offering enrichment activities, like the Akron Fossils and Science Center. And there was social media outreach, too. For example, a writer for The Land, a nonprofit news organization focused on Cleveland, wrote about how she saw an ad for the program on Facebook. The best part? Most of the informational onslaught was done in early April, giving families plenty of time to apply for funds and choose a provider before summer hit, which is when enrichment opportunities are particularly vital.
Alas, additional funding for ACE accounts wasn’t included in this year’s budget. That’s likely because the original program was funded via federal dollars, which have since dried up. Barring an unexpected last-minute addition, the 2023–24 school year could be the last for Ohio parents to use state-provided funds to pay for enrichment activities. Now that ODE has done such excellent work spreading the good news, though, lawmakers should pay close attention to participation rates this summer and next year. If a huge influx of parents takes advantage of the program, that could be a sign that lawmakers should consider using state funds to extend ACE accounts.
