NORWALK, CT (May 22, 2026) — The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood knew about the criminal history of a Norwalk day care operator before approving him to participate in a pandemic emergency child care program funded by a $3 million charitable gift, determined he was not ineligible, paid him at least $142,000, documented violations of the program’s own rules at his facility, never informed the charity that funded the program, and continued payments anyway — according to answers provided to Talk of the Sound by the state agency’s Director of the Division of Licensing.
The disclosures, provided by Liz Proietti, Director of the Division of Licensing at the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, represent the most detailed accounting to date of the state’s relationship with Robert Rubicco, operator of Anna & Jack’s Treehouse at 770 Connecticut Ave. in Norwalk, and raise new questions about the standards OEC applied in approving providers for Project 26, the emergency child care program it administered in coordination with the Capitol Region Education Council during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rubicco’s criminal history includes a 2002 guilty plea to petit larceny and criminal mischief after stealing a deceased North Castle. NY police sergeant’s gold shield and using it to impersonate a police officer at a New Jersey bar; a 2010 guilty plea to witness tampering after impersonating a Manhattan assistant district attorney to influence a witness; and a 2011 federal conviction for accessing a computer without authorization — the original felony fraud charges reduced at plea — after his former employer reported him to the FBI. He served federal prison time after violating probation and completed his sentence in 2017.
Proietti confirmed that OEC reviewed Rubicco’s background check prior to his participation in Project 26. “Based on the results of Mr. Rubicco’s background check, and the criminal convictions that would deem a person unsuitable to obtain a license, provide child care services, or have unsupervised access to children, he was not deemed ineligible,” she wrote.
OEC did not identify which specific convictions were reviewed, under what statutory or regulatory standard the determination was made, or who made it. Talk of the Sound has submitted follow-up questions on those points. Responses are pending.
The Program and the Payments
Project 26 was launched in March 2020 to provide emergency child care for hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was funded by a $4 million pledge from Barbara and Ray Dalio and Dalio Philanthropies, announced March 20, 2020. Of that total, $3 million was directed to child care at facilities across Connecticut, administered by CREC as fiscal fiduciary under OEC’s direction.
“To us, they are heroes,” Barbara Dalio said in the announcement. “The least we can do is make sure their children are taken care of while they’re on the front lines providing medical care.”
Bank records from CREC’s account at Webster Bank show four outgoing wire transfers to Anna & Jack’s Treehouse between April 10 and May 8, 2020, totaling $142,046.01. The first transfer, $1.01 on April 10, was a standard payment verification test. Substantive payments followed: $49,245 on April 13, $70,350 on April 24, and $23,450 on May 8.
Those payments cover only the initial program period. Proietti confirmed that Anna & Jack’s Treehouse was included in a continuation of the program authorized by OEC Commissioner Beth Bye on June 3, 2020, which extended Project 26 through July 31, 2020, under a new contract worth up to $550,000. Payment records for that continuation period have not been produced. The full amount paid to Rubicco under Project 26 remains unknown.
Violations During the Program
OEC’s own inspectors documented violations at Anna & Jack’s Treehouse while the program was active and payments were flowing.
A May 13, 2020 unannounced monitoring visit, conducted under regulation 19a-79-3a(a), found that the provider failed to ensure the health and safety of children when a COVID-19 executive order limiting group size to 10 was not followed. Inspectors observed 11 school-age and preschool children grouped together in a classroom with two teachers. The inspection was signed by OEC Representative Karen Morgan and acknowledged by Annie Tolliver, the person in charge at the facility. A corrective action plan was due by May 27, 2020.
A follow-up inspection on May 20, 2020 — one week later — found the toddler classroom operating at a 7-to-3 group size ratio. Project 26 required no more than four children per group for infant and toddler classrooms. Inspectors also documented that staff failed to health-screen children, including failing to take temperatures and conduct health screening questions, upon the arrival of the state inspector.
According to Proietti, OEC notified CREC of the violations. It did not notify Dalio Philanthropies. “No,” she wrote, when asked whether Dalio was informed.
Proietti also disclosed that the health screening violation documented on May 20 was subsequently removed. She did not explain who removed it or on what basis. Talk of the Sound has submitted follow-up questions on that point.
OEC did not suspend or terminate Anna & Jack’s Treehouse’s participation in the program. “No, the violations cited were corrected through a Corrective Action Plan,” Proietti wrote. Payments continued.
The Criminal History Determination
OEC’s confirmation that it reviewed and cleared Rubicco’s background raises questions about the standard the agency applies. Under Connecticut law, the Commissioner of Early Childhood has discretion to determine that an individual is ineligible to be employed in a position requiring the provision of child care services or unsupervised access to children based on criminal convictions.
Proietti’s answer confirms OEC exercised that discretion and found Rubicco eligible — despite a record that includes multiple criminal convictions, a federal prison sentence, and a probation violation spanning nearly two decades.
OEC has not identified the specific convictions reviewed, the standard applied, or who made the determination. Those questions remain pending.
No Connection to Subsequent Regulatory Proceedings
The May 2020 violations at Anna & Jack’s Treehouse were not factored into the regulatory proceedings that eventually produced a December 2021 consent order against Rubicco, according to Proietti.
“The May 2020 inspection was not specifically considered in subsequent regulatory proceedings against this facility,” she wrote.
The consent order — issued in lieu of license revocation or other disciplinary action — required Rubicco to admit to more than two dozen violations including knowingly making false statements to state investigators and placing seven infants on their stomachs to sleep in violation of safe sleep requirements. He paid a $2,000 civil penalty.
OEC’s own regulatory action data, produced in response to Talk of the Sound’s records request, shows that $2,000 falls above the median penalty for child care center consent orders. Of 61 child care center consent orders with non-zero penalties documented in the data from January 2020 through May 2026, the median penalty was $1,000. Only seven facilities received penalties exceeding $2,000, with the highest being $4,000.
Rubicco subsequently violated the conditions of the consent order in both 2022 and 2023. OEC responded with corrective action plans rather than invoking the consent order’s own enforcement mechanism, which authorized further legal action for noncompliance. He sold the facility to Cadence Academy Preschool in August 2024.
Proietti confirmed that when Rubicco sold the facility, the new license application by Cadence Academy proceeded entirely independently of his compliance history. “The new license application proceeded independently of the prior licensee’s compliance history since the license was issued to a new operator,” she wrote.
Dalio Philanthropies Did Not Respond
Talk of the Sound submitted six questions to Dalio Philanthropies on May 4, 2026, asking whether the organization was informed of the May 2020 violations, what oversight role it exercised over participating sites, what due diligence was conducted on operators before the program launched, and whether it had comment on Rubicco’s regulatory and legal history. A follow-up was sent May 8, 2026, noting that CREC records had been received and publication was imminent. Dalio Philanthropies did not respond to either inquiry.
Follow-Up Questions Pending
Talk of the Sound has submitted additional questions to OEC arising from Proietti’s responses, including the specific convictions reviewed in Rubicco’s background check, the statutory standard applied in determining his eligibility, who made that determination and when, the basis on which the May 20 health screening violation was removed, whether OEC notified CREC of the violation removal, and whether OEC reviews an operator’s financial history or outstanding civil judgments as part of the licensing process or program approval. Responses are pending. This article will be updated when they are received.
Irish solicitors acting on his behalf have previously demanded removal of Talk of the Sound’s Rubicco coverage. Talk of the Sound has declined.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound.com (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 089 972 0669.
Robert P. Rubicco: Criminal, Liar, Fraud, Daycare Operator: Table of Contents