COLUMBUS — Gov. Bob Taft said Tuesday he wants to know why a computer system has withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in child-support payments from some parents since 1996.

        In a memo to state Job and Family Services Director Jacqueline Romer-Sensky, Mr. Taft asked for an analysis of the issue by Monday.

        “The governor is deeply troubled, in fact was shocked, by what he read about this flaw in the administration of the program,” Taft spokesman Kevin Kellems said. “He is eager to get a full explanation from the director and even more interested in ensuring that the right thing is done for those in need.”

        Ms. Romer-Sensky acknowledged the payments had been withheld, confirming a report by the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, a Toledo-based national organization that works on child-support issues.

        Ms. Romer-Sensky said the Job and Family Service Department's computer calculated some child-support payments incorrectly. But no direct payments were lost, and the missed payments were back payments that noncustodial parents had added to regular child-support payments, she said.

        She said she did not know how much money the computer missed in back payments or how many families were affected.

        “That's one of the things we're trying to get our arms around,” Ms. Romer-Sensky said.

        The missed payments occurred because the department was converting to a new statewide computerized system of tracking support payments. That was compounded by a new set of federal guidelines, she said.

        Ms. Romer-Sensky said her department hopes to have the computer glitch cleared up and to begin looking for parents owed back payments by the end of March.

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