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.

Per the SoA, the 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. IR C-8 D and subsections of IR C-9 P refer specifically to aspects of a program’s curriculum or training relevant to acquisition and demonstration of specialty competencies at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels, respectively.

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 seventy-five (75) day period of public review and comment. The comment period is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time on September 27, 2021 and will continue through 5:00pm Eastern Daylight Time on December 11, 2021. Information about the proposed standards and public comment will be available at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment.

To promote thoughtful discussion, the CoA is providing an electronic-based form for public comment submission. Comments and other information including users’ identities will be public, while email addresses used in the registration process will be kept confidential. The CoA will consider all comments received and make appropriate revisions should they be deemed necessary prior to approval of the final versions of the IRs.

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

Sincerely,

APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation