(WXMI) — Annie Dotson's family's experience with child care is like a road map of the barriers many West Michiganders face. It began with just finding child care.
"When we looked at those waiting lists, they were at least a year," Dotson shared. "We did not have a spot become available for our oldest until he was 3 years old."
Once they found their first daycare, the troubles didn't stop. Dotson says her son was able to consistently communicate abuse from caregivers.
"We had lost confidence that he could be safe there."
Then there was bullying at the second center.
"It just felt like they could not provide a response that we felt was adequate," Dotson said. "And we moved on to our third center."
Once a family finds care, the expenses can be more than they bargained for.
"We are probably considered socioeconomically middle class," Dotson explained. "So if it's difficult for us to operational-ize all of these challenges; I can't imagine how people are able to operational-ize this in different circumstances."
That's where state programs like "Great Start to Quality" try to help.
Jaime Mueller is the program director for Kent ISD.
Mueller said, "Ours is unique because we are the only resource center that covers just one county."
She says there's such a high need for preschool and child care in Kent County but there's also a high number of programs available.
The hard part is finding the right one for your family.
Mueller says Dotson's experience finding care is the standard.
"Infant and toddler care is extremely difficult to find right now, and so that's where we see one of the highest needs," Mueller remarked.
Mueller credits the "Ready by Five" millage in Kent County that has allowed them to elevate their services.
"We're able to provide really personalized assistance for those parents and families," Mueller explained. "We have staff that will do a lot of the legwork. They will talk to those parents and find out exactly what their needs are."
Programs like this can only take a family so far. Dotson suggests parents advocate for themselves and reach out to lawmakers.
"I know that there's a lot of people who really need us all to be talking about this," Dotson concluded. "Be a menace. Contact them all the time. I do expect that this is an issue that is front of mind for them when they're going into this next legislative session. They promised us that they would put our families first, and this is what it looks like where the rubber meets the road."
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