The Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (SoA) outline training requirements for programs at the doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. Correspondent to the SoA are the Implementing Regulations (IRs), which are official policy documents that “elucidate, interpret and operationally define” the Commission on Accreditation’s (CoA) policies and procedures. IRs are divided into several different sections, and Section C IRs are those which relate specifically to the SoA.

The SoA and the associated Section C IRs are subject to regular review and revision by the CoA. Through this iterative process, opportunities for clarification have arisen regarding the IR related to postdoctoral profession-wide competencies (IR C-9 P) and the IR related to expected internship placements for students in accredited doctoral programs (IR C-17 D).

As a reminder, in accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and US Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA will make the proposed revisions available for a ninety (90) day period of public review and comment. Information about the proposed revisions and public comment will be available at apps.apa.org/accredcomment.

Please contact the office with questions at APAaccred@apa.org or by calling (202) 336-5979.