As you know, the Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (SoA) outline education and training requirements for programs at the doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. These standards are subject to regular review and revision by the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (APA CoA).
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 (A through E), which are subject to regular review and revision by the CoA. Through this iterative process, opportunities for clarification have arisen regarding IRs in Section C, which relate specifically to the SoA; Section D, which relate to policies governing accreditation; and Section E, which relate to self-governance and regulation.
Per the SoA, the Commission on Accreditation (CoA) requires that all trainees who complete accredited training programs, regardless of substantive practice area, degree type, or level of training, develop certain competencies as part of their preparation for practice in health service psychology (HSP). The CoA evaluates a program’s adherence to this standard in the context of the SoA sections that articulate competencies at each training level. IRs C-8 D, C-8 I, and C-9 P refer specifically to aspects of a program’s curriculum or training relevant to acquisition and demonstration of specific competencies at the doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral levels, respectively. Additionally, IR D.4-7(b) outlines the thresholds for student achievement outcomes in doctoral programs. IR E.1-3 outlines the CoA’s policy on the conduct of its research studies related to its accreditation program.
As a reminder, in accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and US Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the APA CoA has made the proposed standards available for a seventy-five (75) day period of public review and comment, through 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on October 9, 2020. Information about the proposed standards and public comment will be available at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment.
Please contact the office with questions at APAaccred@apa.org or by calling (202) 336-5979.
Sincerely,
APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation