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May 8, 2024
Dear Colleagues,
The Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (SoA, 2015) is a Commission on Accreditation (CoA) policy document that outlines training requirements for programs at the doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. Correspondent
to the SoA are Implementing Regulations (IRs), which are official policy documents that “elucidate, interpret and operationally define” the CoA’s 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, and Section D, which relate specifically to the AOP.
Public Disclosure (at all levels)
Per the SoA, the Commission 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. To increase accessibility, the CoA has changed the three IRs related to the disclosure of program
information at each level: IRs C-26 D, C-27 I, and C-23 P.
Interim Reporting (at all levels)
To demonstrate ongoing consistency with the SoA, the Commission requires programs that receive ten years between periodic reviews to provide an interim report five years after the beginning of the ten-year accreditation term. To simplify the current Interim
Report review process, the CoA has changed the three IRs related to interim reporting at each level: IRs D.4-8(a-c). This revision keeps the required content areas broad but allows for specifics on data presentation. The suggested revisions do not change any
of the required content of the Interim Report (i.e., proximal/distal data, substantive change, complaints).
In accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and the US Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA is providing additional information and making the changes available for a sixty (60) day period of public notice
starting on May 8, 2024. On behalf of the CoA, thank you in advance for your review. Information about the proposed standards and public notice is 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.
Should you have any questions of concerns, please contact the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at (202) 336-5979 or
apaa...@apa.org. On behalf of the CoA, thank you for your review and comments.
Sincerely,
APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
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