CINCINNATI — Parents could get up to $1,000 from the state to help pay for their children's camp and activities in Ohio.

The incentive that was recently increased is bringing more business to providers and helping parents. 

What You Need To Know

  • Benefits for parents looking for summer camp have increased
  • Parents can get up to $1,000 to pay for kids' camp and activities if they are eligible 

  • To be eligible for the funds, you need to apply online, meet the income requirements, and be signed up for a qualifying program 

  • The increased incentive that was put into place because of COVID learning losses is helping providers and drawing more families to programming 

Tova Scherer has been constantly answering calls about summer camp before it’s even started.

“We don't stop as soon as camp is over for one summer or really beginning the next summer," said Scherer.

She runs Camp Ashreinu in Cincinnati, and she said they’ve almost tripled in size.

“I took it over about 16 years ago. When we took it over there, we had about 80 campers and now we’re our registration is almost up to 270 now,” said Scherer.

She said the summer camp programs are the same as they are every year. There’s education, games, sports and activities. It all comes at a cost of up to $285 per week, but this year there’s a different way for parents to pay for it.

“So this reimbursement program has really been a huge game changer. A lot of the families we deal with have a lot of children, and the costs of camps have increasingly skyrocketed and making it harder for families to afford camp," said Scherer. "This is reimbursement has really allowed and opened up the doors for so many more families to send their children."

Parents can get up to $1,000 from the state to send their kids to summer camp or pay for other activities in Ohio if they meet the requirements. 

It's part of a program called After School Child Enrichment, or ACE, a program put in place to help with learning loss from COVID.

To be eligible, they have to meet the income guidelines. Those guidelines were increased to 400% of the poverty line. For a family of four, that means bringing in less than $111,000 a year.

Then families can choose a participating program and apply for reimbursement.

Scherer said her camp is full because of the reimbursement. 

“We’re at capacity now and yeah, we're bursting at the seams and it's, you know, the challenges of keeping up with everything and the staffing," she said. 

She said it’s a good problem to have that she hopes will continue in the years to come.

“Seeing now that COVID is in the past and we still need it, I think this is something that should continue forever,” said Scherer.

For more information about the ACE reimbursement program, click here.