VALLEY CHILD CARE AT A GLANCE

How to find child care: Call the San Fernando Valley Child Care Resource Center, 781-7099. This agency of the state Department of Education provides callers with three to six names of licensed child-care providers near their homes or near work. Referrals are given for the San Fernando Valley, Glendale, Burbank, Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley.

Existing care: There are 558 day-care centers and 1,589 private day-care homes licensed by the state Department of Social Services providing child care to about 29,000 children in the San Fernando Valley, according to Marjorie Morris, executive director of the Child Care Resource Center.

Waiting list: Morris said she gets 800 calls a month from parents asking about child care. The waiting list for referrals at the center now exceeds 3,000 families.

Average cost: Full-time care for infants costs $55 to $120 a week, according to Morris. She said parents can expect to pay $45 to $100 a week for children under 5. Before- and after-school care generally run $35 to $75 a week.

Checking out a center: Parents can call the Department of Social Services, (213) 337-4300, to see if there are any substantiated complaints about a child-care center or day-care home on file. This information would include any fines, suspensions or revocations in the licensee’s past.

Child-care shortage: Crystal Stairs, a nonprofit child-care resource and referral agency in Inglewood, estimates that 47,000 Valley children under 13 lack adequate child-care services. Of those, about 38,000 are of school age, and about 9,000 are newborn to age 5, said Liz Casey, special projects coordinator at the agency.

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