CRSPPP 1999 Annual Report

There was no budget for CRSPPP to meet in 1999, thus business was conducted through email and a limited meeting was held at the time of the annual convention. For the year 2000, budget cuts have limited the Commission to only one meeting.

The Following Activities Were Conducted in 1999.

1. CRSPPP conducted two symposia at the APA annual convention. The first symposium provided an opportunity for representatives of all newly recognized specialties and proficiencies to present on developments in their areas, and to discuss what formal recognition by APA has meant for the developments in practice. The second symposium consisted of representatives from major credentialing organizations in professional psychology (e.g., ASPPB, National Register, ABPP, Council of Specialties) each of whom addressed specific questions regarding the impact of the APA specialty recognition process on the field.

2. APA staff created a webpage that now houses criteria and procedures for petitioning groups as well as the APA archival definitions of the recognized specialties and proficiencies.
3. Cynthia Belar completed her term as chair, and Jack Plummer was elected to begin in 2000.
4. A petition for the recognition of Behavioral Psychology as a specialty was received; the public notice period for comments from the field began on September 1^st.
5. In continuation of work from 1998, the revisions to make the specialty petition more user-friendly and less redundant were accepted for final review.
6. CRSPPP participated in meetings of the Council of Credentialing Organizations in Professional Psychology in January 1999 and October 1999. Of significant interest to these organizations is the development of a coherent taxonomy for professional psychology that clearly informs the public.

CRSPPP Will Continue to Focus its Attention on its Ongoing Responsibilities as Follows:

• CRSPPP reviews petitions to APA for the recognition and continued recognition of specialties and proficiencies in professional psychology.
• CRSPPP confers with external groups having a shared interest in issues associated with recognition, accreditation, and credentialing in professional psychology.
• CRSPPP has a responsibility to encourage public communications about the APA specialty and proficiency recognition process and actions taken by the Association in this regard.
• CRSPPP reports periodically about the changing landscape of professional psychology and the evolution of areas of practice in psychology.
• CRSPPP maintains archival descriptions of specialties and proficiencies in the public interest.