CENTERS FOR KIDS SOUGHT.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Concerned that Los Angeles County employees and residents cannot afford licensed child care, a supervisor said Thursday that she wants to open day-care centers at county offices and parks.

Recent studies have found a lack of affordable licensed child care in the county, which ranks 54th among the state's 58 counties in child-care availability for children under 5, Supervisor Gloria Molina said.

``We need to include child care in every new building we erect and start initiatives to build child-care centers in all our parks,'' said Molina, who is the supervisors' chairwoman. ``We need 24-hour centers as well as drop-in centers.''

The supervisors are scheduled to vote Feb. 18 on whether to study Molina's proposal, which calls for parents to pay fees they could afford.

``Any parent who tries to put their child in a center knows there is very little space,'' said Lisa Proft, a deputy to Molina, who handles children's issues.

Supervisor Don Knabe is willing to study the issue but questions whether the county could afford the program, according to spokesman John Wallace.

``He definitely sees a need for quality child care,'' Wallace said. ``It's one of the biggest barriers to employment for mothers on welfare. However, he is concerned about the cost.''

Molina is also asking that the county's lobbyists in Sacramento work with state lawmakers to speed up and improve the state's child-care licensing process and to identify and eliminate obstacles.

``The supervisor has identified child care as being one of the top issues for her year as chair of the board,'' said Miguel Santana, a spokesman for Molina.