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 four (4) IRs. Three (3) of the IRs relate to recruitment and retention of diverse individuals at all levels of training, including doctoral programs (IR C-21 D), doctoral internships (IR C-19 I), and postdoctoral residencies (IR C-6 P). The remaining regulation is IR C-29 D, which focuses on initial accreditation for doctoral programs.
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. The comment period is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time on July 16th, 2018 and will continue through 5:00pm Eastern Daylight Time on October 14th, 2018. The comment system can be accessed by visiting the landing page of the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation website, or at this link.
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.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact us using the information below. On behalf of the CoA, thank you for your review and comments.
Sincerely,
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation