By: Ryan Michaels | The Maine Mirror | September 19. 2026

A change to Maine law allows licensed child care providers to operate without outdoor recreational space of their own, provided an outdoor public recreational space is available within a “reasonable distance.”

But what constitutes a reasonable distance? How many child care providers are currently relying on the provision? What public spaces are being used? And how does the Maine Department of Health and Human Services determine whether getting children from a child care facility to that space is safe?

The Maine Mirror has filed a Freedom of Access Act request with DHHS seeking records that could begin answering those questions.

The Law

LD 1428, titled An Act to Increase Access to Child Care for Maine Families, was introduced during the 132nd Maine Legislature. The original bill was presented by Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford and cosponsored by several lawmakers.

The legislation addressed outdoor recreational space requirements for child care facilities and family child care providers, as well as child care facilities in residential areas and the use of certain community rooms for child care.

(Original legislative document for LD 1428, “An Act to Increase Access to Child Care for Maine Families,” introduced in the 132nd Maine Legislature by Ryan Fecteau. The document shows the bill as originally proposed, including its outdoor recreational space provision, residential zoning provisions and legislative summary. Of particular relevance to this investigation, the original bill specified that a child care provider without its own outdoor recreational space could rely on an outside public recreational space located within one-quarter mile. Source: 132nd Maine Legislature, LD 1428 / H.P. 937.)

The law that ultimately emerged from the legislative process allows a child care facility or family child care provider to operate without its own outdoor recreational space when an outside public recreational space is available within a “reasonable distance.”

But “reasonable distance” was not the measurement originally proposed.

From One-Quarter Mile to “Reasonable Distance”

The original version of LD 1428 was much more specific.

On page two of the original legislative document, the proposed statutory language stated that a provider could operate without its own outdoor recreational space as long as an outside public recreational space was located “within one-quarter of a mile” of the facility or provider. The bill’s summary repeated that quarter-mile requirement.

During the legislative process, DHHS’s Office of Child and Family Services supported allowing providers to use public recreational spaces but recommended replacing that specific measurement with the broader “reasonable distance” standard.

OCFS explained in legislative testimony that such an approach would allow licensing specialists to consider circumstances beyond mileage, including factors such as the ages and number of children and potential hazards along the route.

The Legislature ultimately adopted the broader “reasonable distance” language rather than the original quarter-mile measurement.

That raises an important public-accountability question:

How is “reasonable distance” being defined and applied in practice?

The Maine Mirror Files a Public Records Request

On September 19, 2026, The Maine Mirror submitted a Freedom of Access Act request to DHHS seeking records concerning implementation of the provision.

Rather than asking DHHS to conduct new research or provide an opinion, the request seeks existing records showing how the law is actually being administered.

Among other things, The Maine Mirror requested records sufficient to identify licensed child care facilities and family child care providers that have been licensed, renewed, approved or otherwise documented as operating without recreational space at their facility under § 8302-A(4).

For those providers, the request seeks existing information including provider names, municipalities, license or program numbers, license types, licensed capacities and relevant licensing or approval dates.

The request also seeks records identifying the public recreational spaces those providers rely upon.

(The Maine Mirror’s September 19, 2026 Freedom of Access Act request to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services seeking records concerning implementation of LD 1428 and child care providers operating without on-site outdoor recreational space. The request seeks provider-level information, identification of public recreational spaces, records documenting “reasonable distance” determinations, agency standards and guidance, and licensing forms and database fields used to track compliance. Source: The Maine Mirror / FOAA correspondence.)

How Is Safety Evaluated?

The request goes further.

For each provider identified, The Maine Mirror requested records sufficient to show the basis upon which DHHS or OCFS determined that the public recreational space was within a reasonable distance.

Those records could include licensing determinations, inspection notes, checklists, measurements, maps, approvals, database entries or other documentation.

The request also seeks any current policies, procedures, guidance, memoranda, directives, written criteria, training materials or decision-making guidance used by licensing personnel when determining what constitutes a reasonable distance.

That includes records addressing factors such as distance, travel time, children’s ages, number of children, road crossings, traffic, sidewalks, accessibility, route conditions and other potential hazards.

Those questions are particularly relevant because OCFS identified children’s ages, group size and hazards along a route as factors licensing specialists could consider when evaluating the distance.

Does Maine Track the Exception?

There is another question that could prove equally important.

Does DHHS actually track which child care providers are operating under this provision?

The Maine Mirror requested blank or template copies of relevant licensing applications, renewal forms, inspection checklists, compliance documents and other forms showing how compliance with the outdoor-space requirement is documented.

The request also seeks records identifying any database field, code, designation, checkbox or electronic mechanism DHHS uses to indicate whether a provider has its own recreational space or instead relies upon an outside public recreational space.

The FOAA request specifically anticipates the possibility that DHHS may not maintain a single list of affected providers.

If no such list exists, The Maine Mirror has asked for existing database information or other records from which responsive providers can be identified.

If DHHS does not maintain records identifying which providers operate under § 8302-A(4), the Department has been asked simply to state that fact rather than create a new record.

That answer could itself provide important information about how implementation of the law is being monitored.

This Is the Beginning, Not the Conclusion

The filing of this records request does not establish that DHHS, OCFS or any licensed child care provider has done anything improper.

Nor does The Maine Mirror currently know how many providers, if any, are operating under this particular provision.

That is precisely why the records were requested.

There is a meaningful distinction between identifying a question worth investigating and reaching a conclusion before the evidence has been collected.

The Maine Mirror intends to follow the evidence.

If DHHS produces provider-level information, those records could make it possible to examine how the law operates across Maine: where affected facilities are located, what recreational spaces they use, what distances children may travel and how licensing personnel document their determinations.

They could also allow comparisons between different licensing decisions to determine whether “reasonable distance” is being applied consistently.

And if the records show that the system is working exactly as intended, that is important information too.

A Question of Transparency

The original LD 1428 demonstrates something particularly relevant to this investigation: lawmakers initially had a specific, measurable distance — one-quarter mile — before the legislation ultimately emerged with the more flexible “reasonable distance” standard.

That evolution does not itself establish that the resulting standard is inadequate or improperly administered.

It does, however, make understanding its implementation important.

When the law leaves a determination to professional judgment rather than a fixed measurement, the public can reasonably ask what standards guide that judgment, how those decisions are documented and whether those standards are being applied consistently.

Those are the questions behind The Maine Mirror’s September 19 records request.

DHHS now has an opportunity to provide the records that may answer them.

The Maine Mirror will review the Department’s response and the underlying records before drawing conclusions about what they show.

This investigation is just beginning.