Support pay to be electronic starting in May

COLUMBUS -- Ohio parents soon will receive child support payments electronically, rather than on paper and in the mail.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has been converting to electronic payments since 2005, when language that made it mandatory was passed as part of the state budget.
The change is being made in phases, each of which covers about 30,000 parents who receive child support. Parents in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties are being notified that their payments will be made electronically beginning in May.
ODJFS hopes to complete the final phase by the end of June, spokeswoman Michele Haubiel said Tuesday.
Besides reducing occurrences of lost or stolen checks, ODJFS expects to save about $2 million per year on postage and administrative costs.
Recipients will be asked to choose between Direct Deposit or the e-QuickPay Debit MasterCard programs. If parents don't state their preferences, they will be enrolled automatically in e-QuickPay.
Ohio collected nearly $2 billion in child support during fiscal year 2005. There are more than 1 million child support cases in the state, according to ODJFS data.