When single mother Ana Laureano began shopping for quality child care, she panicked.

The waiting lists were months long and she had to return to work to pay the bills.

"I was freaked out," she said. "I needed to start work."

Laureano, 27, had her prayers answered within a few weeks when a spot opened at Centro de Niños in Riverside. It's a state-funded, affordable preschool run by the nonprofit Concilio for Spanish Speaking of the Inland Empire.

The Riverside resident immediately enrolled her son Dominic, then 3. Just a few months later, the nonprofit group's facility in the Riverside neighborhood of Casa Blanca said it could take both Dominic and 16-month-old Ariana, free of charge. The facility offers preschool, infant and toddler care.

"God put everything in place," Laureano said. "It's such a blessing to have a program that helps parents in need."

Most families aren't as fortunate as Laureano. The need for child care and preschools in the county is critical, experts say.

Rapidly growing Riverside County has the fewest licensed care facilities for children of working parents, according to the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, a nonprofit organization that advocates quality child care.

"Because the population has grown so fast, the licensed child care supply hasn't been able to grow with it," said Carlise King, research director for the network.

To accommodate the growing need, Concilio is building a new Centro de Niños preschool, which offers all-day care to 64 children ages 3 to 5.

The center, under construction at Bordwell Park in Riverside's Eastside neighborhood, will serve twice the enrollment in an area where about one-third of the population lives below the poverty line.

"Times have changed," said Pam Robinson, the school's site supervisor. "Both parents have to work."

A 'New House'

Centro de Niños operates out of older buildings owned by Riverside's Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine Catholic Church, but the child care facility has outgrown the buildings, said Andrea Guevara, the school's director.

The new $4.9 million facility is being built by the city, funded through the Riverside Renaissance program, a $1.8 billion initiative that seeks to accomplish 30 years of projects within five years.

"This is a perfect example of how nonprofits and government can work together to meet the needs of the community," said Ralph Nuñez, the city's director of parks and recreation.

The 12,500-square-foot school, which is replacing the current facility, will include six classrooms, a meeting room, administrative offices, cafeteria and outdoor play area. The school is expected to open by early summer, Nuñez said.

The school also will include more storage space, a larger kitchen and increased security because visitors will enter through the front office.

The aging facility serves children but was never meant to be a preschool, officials said.

"It's the difference between moving into a new house and having to live in an old house and constantly being worried about what repairs are needed," said Ofelia Valdez-Yeager, a board member of the Concilio organization.

Lack of Space

School officials said they are grateful the new facility will serve more families in need.

"There just isn't enough child care available," Robinson said. "We have to turn so many kids away."

The school used to keep its own waiting list, hundreds of parents long, but in 2006 it became a requirement to input that names of interested parents into the Centralized Eligibility List, mandatory for all state-funded preschools and child care centers offering no- or low-cost care.

There were 11,393 children on the county eligibility list as of Tuesday, said Jill Johnson, coordinator for the Riverside County Office of Education's Division of Children and Family Services. Families are ranked based on need. There is no way to tell how many are specifically waiting for preschool openings, she said.

Guevara said at least 10 parents a day call the school or drop in hoping to enroll their children, only to find they'll be put on a list of thousands.

Licensed child care is available only to 18 percent of children with parents in the work force in Riverside County. Statewide, that number is 27 percent, according to a 2007 report by the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network.