Welcome New Team Members to BELL!
Roslyn Edwards, Director of Early Childhood Education
People's Emergency Center

I am excited to introduce two new members of our Building Early Links for Learning team this month.

Omari Baye is our BELL Program Manager. He is a native Philadelphian motivated by a strong desire to assess and understand how barriers to resources and trauma impact child development. He earned a degree in psychology at Morehouse College and pursued a Master's Degree in Childhood Studies, Psychology, and Public Affairs & Policy at Rutgers University. Omari has wide ranging experience in the social services field; first in the educational and behavioral health settings, then later at an emergency housing provider as a Program and Compliance Director. Omari is excited about his new role at PEC where he will be working to connect more families in emergency shelter to high-quality early childhood education programs.

Todd Hopkins is our new Early Childhood Coordinator for Permanent Supportive Housing. He has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 15 years as a teacher, trainer, consultant, and program manager. It has been his professional goal to help children and their families access the highest quality early learning opportunities possible. He is excited to bring these experiences to PEC to create new and innovative practices to connect families in permanent supportive housing to high-quality early childhood education. Todd's years of experience in the early childhood field have created a deep understanding of the challenges facing our children and their families. 

I have no doubt that Omari and Todd will have a lasting positive impact on the families whom BELL serves. Welcome to the team!
TEXT PECBELL TO to 844-961-3547 for BELL news!
New Report Released on the Benefits of Head Start for Children Experiencing Housing Insecurity
PEC's policy department asked Dr. Mary Haskett to summarize the report “Exploring variability in social and behavioral adjustment among children in Head Start who are unstably housed,” (by Haskett, M. E., Neal, S. C., & Norwalk, K., 2020) from the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk in our most recent BrainGain.

"This sample of children experiencing homelessness," Dr. Haskett writes, "was unique in that they were living in doubled-up circumstances and were enrolled in Head Start, a high-quality early childhood education program. Relative to other families facing homelessness, these families were sufficiently stable to enroll them in Head Start. Perhaps Head Start served a protective role for these children."

Explore the findings of this study and more research here.
Young boy with red mask smiling
Be part of a Conversation about Dr. Haskett's Research at our next Conference

The Children's Work Group Early Childhood Conference is the only meeting space to discuss aspects of young children experiencing homelessness. Professionals from public health, hospitals, city and state government, homeless housing, early childhood education, academia, home visiting, child welfare, early intervention, and other systems come together. We host trainings, workshops, and panels of guest leadership. And we network; by getting to know one another, we improve how our systems collaborate.

We meet every third Friday of the month, starting at 9:30 AM.

Join our mailing list by emailing jwillard@pec-cares.org.
The March conference features Dr. Mary Haskett presenting new research on how Head Start can support young children experiencing homelessness, and Dr. Maureen Hayes presenting a brief training on the applicability of Motivational Interviewing (MI) with trauma survivors and families. We will also introduce new BELL leadership and a program for families in permanent supportive housing.

When: Friday, March 19 
Time: 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM 
TEXT PECCARES TO to 844-961-3547 for PEC news!