As provided in section 648A(d) of the Act, the Head Start Fellows Program is designed to enhance the ability of Head Start Fellows to make significant contributions to Head Start and to other child development and family services programs.

(a) Selection. An applicant must be working on the date of application in a local Head Start program or otherwise working in the field of child development and family services. The qualifications of the applicants for Head Start Fellowship positions will be competitively reviewed.

(b) Placement. Head Start Fellows may be placed in the Head Start national and regional offices; local Head Start agencies and programs; institutions of higher education; public or private entities and organizations concerned with services to children and families; and other appropriate settings.

(c) Restrictions. A Head Start Fellow who is not an employee of a local Head Start agency or program may only be placed in the national or regional offices within the Department of Health and Human Services that administer Head Start or local Head Start agencies. Head Start Fellows shall not be placed in any agency whose primary purpose, or one of whose major purposes is to influence federal, state or local legislation.

(d) Duration. Head Start Fellowships will be for terms of one year, and may be renewed for a term of one additional year.

(e) Status. For the purposes of compensation for injuries under chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, Head Start Fellows shall be considered to be employees, or otherwise in the service or employment, of the federal government. Head Start Fellows assigned to the national or regional offices within the Department of Health and Human Services shall be considered employees in the Executive Branch of the federal government for the purposes of chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, and for the purposes of any administrative standards of conduct applicable to the employees of the agency to which they are assigned.