Any parent who received child support while also collecting welfare is encouraged to attend a meeting tonight to determine if the state improperly withheld money from them over the past four years.

        Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services was ordered by Gov. Bob Taft this year to repay $44 million to an estimated 166,000 Ohio parents who had child support payments illegally withheld.

        The state is working with county officials to determine who is due payments, and how much those payments are.

        But a nonprofit advocacy group called the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support Inc. is advising parents not to leave that investigation up to state officials.

        Carrie Davis, Hamilton County chapter president for ACES, said tonight's meeting — to be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the North College Hill City Building, 1646 Galbraith Road, will help individuals determine for themselves if they are owed money and how much.

        “Once the state starts moving on this, and people start asking questions, it will take forever to get records,” Ms. Davis said. “Rather than wait for the rush, we want to give them a jump start.”

        Mike Boehmer, a spokesman for the county's Department of Job and Family Services, said there are at least 18,000 county residents shortchanged by the state. His department is being trained to identify those cases and the amounts owed.

        Checks won't be sent until June, he said.

        Geraldine Jensen, president of the Toledo-based ACES, also advises parents not to trust the state to get it right.

        “The state's track record on this isn't good,” Ms. Jensen said. “Parents need to double-check. Not every family was sent the wrong amounts. They're going to have to go get their records and do some calculations.”

        ACES filed a lawsuit against the state to have the money paid back to the families after it became apparent the state was withholding the wrong amounts of child support from some people on public assistance.

        Anyone collecting child support and on public assistance after Oct. 1, 1997, may be eligible.

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