Head Start Program

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

45 CFR Part 1311

RIN 0970-AB56

Head Start Program

AGENCY: Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF),

Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Health and Human

Services (HHS).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Administration on Children, Youth and Families is issuing

this final rule to implement a new statutory provision authorizing the

Secretary to create a Head Start Fellows Program for staff in local

Head Start programs or other individuals working in the field of child

development, child care, early childhood education, health, and family

services.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 10, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Gray, Head Start Bureau,

Administration on Children, Youth and Families, P.O. Box 1182,

Washington, D.C. 20013; (202) 205-8404.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Program Purpose

Public Law 103-252, the Human Services Amendments of 1994, amended

the Head Start Act to authorize the creation of a Head Start Fellows

Program (HSFP), which will support professional development of

individuals working in Head Start or related programs.

The Head Start Bureau is pleased with the opportunity to develop

the HSFP. The Bureau anticipates that the HSFP will provide Head Start

Fellows with a unique opportunity to be exposed to activities, issues,

resources, and new approaches through placements that will include

national and regional Head Start offices, academia, and other public or

private nonprofit entities and organizations concerned with services to

children and families. The Head Start Bureau will benefit from the

valuable perspectives brought by the Fellows currently working in Head

Start and other programs across America to the national policy making

process.

II. Summary of the Final Rule

The authority for this final rule is section 1150 of Public Law

103-252, the Human Services Amendments of 1994 (the Act) which added

section 648A(d) to the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9843). Section 648A(d)

authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of Head Start

Fellowships. Section 648A(d)(6) authorizes the Secretary to make

expenditures not to exceed $1,000,000 for any fiscal year for stipends

and other reasonable expenses for the Fellows Program. Additional

authority is found in section 648A(d)(8), which mandates that the

Secretary promulgate regulations to carry out section 648A(d).

The Act specifies:

To whom Fellowships may be competitively awarded;

[[Page 1400]]

Placement locations for Head Start Fellows;

The duration of Head Start Fellowships; and

The status of Head Start Fellows.

III. Rulemaking History

On May 15, 1996, the Department published a Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (61 FR 24467) proposing to

establish a rule to implement the statutory provision establishing the

Head Start Fellows Program, including selection, placement, duration

and status of the Head Start Fellows. Interested persons were given 60

days in which to comment on the proposed rule. During the 60 day

comment period the Department received comments from seven individuals

in Head Start, child care, and early intervention programs.

IV. Section by Section Discussion of the Comments Received

No comments were received on sections 1311.1 (Head Start Fellows

Purpose), 1311.2 (Definitions), and 1311.3 (Application Process).

Section 1311.4 Qualifications, Selection, and Placement

Comment: We received one comment that a specified number of Fellows

slots should be reserved for people employed in Head Start at the local

level. The individual also commented that non-Head Start program staff,

especially early childhood specialists and consultants, should receive

a lower priority rating in the selection process.

Response: It is anticipated that some local Head Start program

staff will emerge as Fellows from each year's selection process.

However, the purpose of the program is broader than Head Start and is

aimed at a wider audience than the current Head Start community. The

program's purpose is to build leadership and enhance the ability of the

Fellows to make significant contributions throughout the early

childhood and family services field. Establishing a quota for Head

Start employees or otherwise placing eligible individuals from non-Head

Start programs at a disadvantage would distort the nature of the

competitive process and, we believe, is not in accordance with the

intent of the legislation.

Comment: One comment suggested that the final rule should identify

all organizations involved in the selection process and describe the

role of each.

Response: This comment is in reference to the Council for Early

Childhood Professional Recognition (``the Council''), a Washington,

D.C.-based non-profit organization which is assisting with the

implementation of the HSFP through a Cooperative Agreement between it

and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. The Council

competed successfully for this Cooperative Agreement and is providing

support for the development and operation of this program in myriad

ways. Also involved is the Commission on National Head Start

Fellowship, which is an entity which the Council and the Head Start

Bureau jointly established and consists of nationally prominent

individuals in early childhood and family services. The Commission is

also providing substantial support in the ongoing development of the

program, including the formulation and application of selection

criteria and the actual recommendation of Fellows for selection.

Although we anticipate that these entities will remain involved

throughout the currently legislated duration of the program, the HSFP

is still in its developmental stage. It may become necessary at some

point to change these relationships or establish entirely new

relationships. For this reason it is our judgment that this should not

be written into the regulation.

Comment: One comment to this section maintained that the selection

criteria for choosing the Fellows should be published and weighted.

Response: There is merit to this argument in that the applicants

would know with greater specificity the criteria on which they are

being judged and the weight accorded each criterion and would therefore

be able to respond more appropriately. Nevertheless, it is our judgment

that specifying and precisely formulating the criteria and their

relative weights would unduly restrict current Commissioners and future

Commissioners in the selection process. However, we will be discussing

this issue and the possibility of inclusion of criteria and their

weights in the application package for future classes of Fellows at the

next meeting of the Commission on National Head Start Fellowships.

Section 1311.5 Duration of Fellowships and Status of Head Start

Fellows

Comment: We received one comment that, although the NPRM is clear,

other information regarding the Fellowship is unclear as to whether the

Fellowship placement is for one or for two years.

Response: We appreciate this comment and will assure that all

documents to be used in the future regarding the Fellows Program

specifically state that the Fellowship are for one year but may be

renewed for a term of one additional year.

V. Impact Analysis

Executive Order 12866

This final rule implements the statutory authority to create a

HSFP. Congress authorized expenditures allotted under section

640(a)(2)(D) of the Head Start Act, not to exceed $1 million in any

fiscal year. This section allows for expenditures at the Secretary's

discretion.

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980

The Secretary certifies that this rule will not have a significant

impact on substantial numbers of small entities.

Paperwork Reduction Act

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, all

Departments are required to submit to the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) for review and approval any reporting or record-keeping

requirement inherent in a proposed rule or, if necessary, a final rule.

This final rule contains an information collection requirement in

section 1311.3 with regard to the application process for individuals

applying for the HSFP. No comments were received on section 1311.3. The

information collection remains the same as set forth in the NPRM.

We submitted section 1311.3 to OMB for review and approval in

accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB control number is

0970-0140 and has been inserted at the end of section 1311.3. The

expiration date is 7/31/99.

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1311

Education of disadvantaged, Grant programs--social programs,

Scholarships and fellowships.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 93.600,

Project Head Start)

Approved: December 17, 1996.

Olivia A. Golden,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families.

For the reasons set forth in the Preamble, 45 CFR Chapter XIII is

amended by adding a new Part 1311 as follows:

PART 1311--HEAD START FELLOWS PROGRAM

Sec.

1311.1 Head Start Fellows Program purpose.

1311.2 Definitions.

1311.3 Application process.

[[Page 1401]]

1311.4 Qualifications, selection, and placement.

1311.5 Duration of Fellowships and status of Head Start Fellows.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.

Sec. 1311.1 Head Start Fellows Program Purpose.

(a) This part establishes regulations implementing section 648A(d)

of the Head Start Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq., applicable

to the administration of the Head Start Fellows Program, including

selection, placement, duration and status of the Head Start Fellows.

(b) 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.

Sec. 1311.2 Definitions.

As used in this part:

Act means the Head Start Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.

Associate Commissioner means the Associate Commissioner of the Head

Start Bureau in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

Head Start Fellows means individuals who participate in the Head

Start Fellows Program, who may be staff in local Head Start programs or

other individuals working in the field of child development and family

services.

Sec. 1311.3 Application process.

An individual who wishes to obtain a Fellowship must submit an

application to the Associate Commissioner. The Administration for

Children and Families will publish an annual announcement of the

availability and number of Fellowships in the Federal Register. Federal

employees are not eligible to apply. (The information collection

requirement contained in this section is approved under OMB Control

Number 0970-0140.)

Sec. 1311.4 Qualifications, selection, and placement.

(a) The Act specifies that 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. The Associate Commissioner will make the final

selection of the Head Start Fellows.

(b) Head Start Fellows may be placed in:

(1) The Head Start national and regional offices;

(2) Local Head Start agencies and programs;

(3) Institutions of higher education;

(4) Public or private entities and organizations concerned with

services to children and families; and

(5) Other appropriate settings.

(c) 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.

(d) 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.

Sec. 1311.5 Duration of Fellowships and status of Head Start Fellows.

(a) Head Start Fellowships will be for terms of one year, and may

be renewed for a term of one additional year.

(b) 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.

(c) 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.

[FR Doc. 97-576 Filed 1-9-97; 8:45 am]

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