Issue 172–June 2026

Register Now for the California JPIA’s 31^st Annual Risk Management Educational Forum

Registration is open for the California JPIA’s 31^st Annual Risk Management Educational Forum, Beneath the Surface—Dive Into Risk Management, October 7–9, 2026, at the Monterey Conference Center in the heart of downtown Monterey. Register now and discover the depths of risk management with us.

This year’s Forum brings together an inspiring keynote, thought leaders, and industry experts to explore practical tools, strategies, and insights shaping the future of public entity liability exposure. Attendees will navigate key areas including legal liability, workers’ compensation, employment law, public safety, organizational dynamics, governance, and emerging legislative challenges, gaining a clearer view of the forces below the surface that influence risk today and into the future.

Registration is at no cost to members.

Visit the Risk Management Educational Forum website page for more information or to register. If you have any questions, please email us.

Parks & Recreation Training Resources

The California JPIA offers a variety of training opportunities to help parks and recreation professionals enhance safety, reduce risk, and strengthen operations. In recognition of National Park and Recreation Month in July, we are highlighting some of the training offerings available to members.

Parks & Recreation Academy—Coming in February 2027

Held every two years, this two-and-a-half-day academy equips parks and recreation managers and supervisors with practical strategies for program development, staffing, grant writing, ADA compliance, and creating safe recreational environments. Registration for the Academy will open in November 2026. An email will be sent to agency training registrars.

In-Person Trainings

Part-Time and Seasonal Employee Orientation Training
Provides seasonal and part-time staff with essential training in customer service, harassment prevention, workplace safety, and mandated reporting requirements.

Aquatic Risk Management – H2-Whoa!
Covers practical strategies for reducing aquatic-related risks, including drowning prevention, facility operations, emergency response, and risk management planning.

Playground Safety
Focuses on playground maintenance standards, ADA compliance, product liability, and safety best practices through classroom instruction and onsite evaluation.

Agency registrars may submit an in-person training request through the California JPIA Training Request Tool or contact the Authority’s training department. Note the Training Request Tool is limited to designated agency registrars.

Online Trainings

The following course is available on-demand through myJPIA, the Authority’s learning management system.

Heat Illness Prevention for Outdoor Heat (Supervisors and Non-Supervisors)
Provides employees with an overview of heat illness prevention, including recognizing symptoms, understanding risk factors, and taking appropriate preventative and emergency response actions.

To attend a training, contact your agency’s training registrar.

2026 Workers’ Compensation Claims Audit

The California JPIA conducts an annual independent audit of our workers’ compensation third-party administrator (TPA), Athens Administrators. Following the retirement of longtime auditor Jim Bankson, the Authority retained Independent Consulting & Risk Management Services (ICRMS) to perform this year’s audit.

Although ICRMS audited the Authority’s workers’ compensation program for the first time, they have served as the auditor for the liability program for over a decade. ICRMS audits claims handling for public risk pools throughout the country, and this audit focused on 152 randomly selected open claims, including a sample from each of our assigned claims examiners. The audit was based on Athens’ compliance with the Authority’s key performance indicators and statutory requirements. Following the initial phase of the audit, the team at Athens responded to the findings before a final score was calculated.

This year’s score of 96.84 percent represents a more than two-and-a-half percent increase over last year’s 94.28 percent mark. This score also marks the claims team’s 16^th consecutive audit score of 90 percent or higher.

“This year’s audit score is the highest score our team has achieved in over 15 years. They have shown a consistent ability to comply with both the Authority’s rigorous standards as well as the requirements imposed by the State of California. They continue to look out for the interests of the injured employees they serve as well as the Authority’s members,” said Jeff Rush, workers’ compensation program manager.

If members have any questions or feedback regarding the workers’ compensation programs or the recent audit results, they are welcome to contact Jeff Rush.

California JPIA Developing Online Training for Senate Bill 827 Compliance

In December 2025, the California JPIA highlighted legislative changes to California’s transparency and ethics laws, including Senate Bill 827 (SB 827). Effective January 1, 2026, this legislation updates the state’s mandatory ethics framework under Assembly Bill 1234. SB 827 expands biennial ethics training to include department heads and introduces a standalone fiscal and financial training mandate for local agency officials.

Under the law, officials in service prior to January 1, 2026, must complete at least two hours of this fiscal training by January 1, 2028. Officials beginning service on or after January 1, 2026, must complete training within six months of their first day of service. Navigating these regulatory environments can create operational challenges; precisely the type of challenges that the Authority is dedicated to helping its members address.

Following the passage of SB 827, many member agencies contacted the Authority seeking guidance on identifying qualified trainers to satisfy this fiscal education requirement. In response, the California JPIA is developing an online training module aligned with the SB 827 fiscal requirements. The course will be offered as a self-paced online training module hosted on myJPIA, the Authority’s learning management system, and will be available to all members at no cost.

The Authority remains committed to regularly evaluating member feedback and thoughtfully expanding its training offerings where appropriate and aligned with its mission. While the Authority is supporting development of this resource, agencies may also choose to utilize training opportunities offered by other qualified providers to meet statutory requirements, particularly if training is needed before the Authority’s module becomes available.

The Authority expects the module to be ready for member use by the end of 2026. Once available, this on-demand format will provide councilmembers, legislative body members, and department heads with the flexibility to complete their required training on their own schedules.

While the Authority manages the development of this resource, there are proactive steps agencies can take now:

Review rosters to determine which elected officials, board members, and department heads are subject to the fiscal training requirement.
Confirm website compliance by ensuring the agency’s website is updated by July 1 to include clear instructions and contact information for requesting public records related to ethics and fiscal training.
Monitor future newsletter editions and myJPIA notifications for course launch details later this year.

“At the Authority, we pride ourselves on adding value for our members,” said Training Manager Ryan Thomas. “One of the best ways to do that is by assisting members to meet their training needs, particularly in areas that help with the prevention of claims or to meet a regulatory training requirement. In this case, several members asked for guidance on finding training providers. This is an area where we felt we could help by developing an online training, at no cost to our members.”

If you have questions, please contact your regional risk manager.

Live—myJPIA 2.0

At the California JPIA, we continually seek to improve the member experience with our training program. We listen to our members and look to incorporate tools and technology that make life easier. To that end, we have launched new landing pages in myJPIA, our learning management system. The primary focus of the enhancement is to simplify the user experience by making it easier to find enrolled training, transcripts, and training certificates. In addition, there is easier access to resources like featured training announcements, the academy schedule, and frequently asked questions.

This system enhancement is live. We encourage members to contact the training team with any questions.

Expanded Cybersecurity Resources Available to Members

Following a successful partnership with Triden Group and strong member participation in the Authority’s cybersecurity assessment services, we are expanding cybersecurity resources for members.

Cybersecurity assessments have helped members identify practical areas for improvement, including patch management, incident response planning, vulnerability management, backup practices, and employee security awareness. Several members have also used their assessment results to pursue follow-up work, including advisory support, tabletop exercises, penetration testing, network upgrades, managed detection and response, backup improvements, employee security awareness training, and IT governance support.

Beginning July 1, members will have access to fully funded cybersecurity tabletop exercises, facilitated by Triden Group. These exercises are designed to help agencies test their response procedures, clarify roles and responsibilities, identify communication gaps, and practice decision-making before an actual cyber event occurs. Tabletop exercises may be conducted at the executive or technical level, depending on the member’s needs. These findings reinforced the value of regular assessments and hands-on exercises that allow agency staff to walk through how they would respond during a cyber incident.

The Authority will also make follow-up cybersecurity reassessments available every three years for members who have addressed prior assessment findings. These reassessments will help members evaluate progress, identify remaining vulnerabilities, and determine where additional work may be needed.

Members may continue to access fully funded cybersecurity assessment services, including a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Questionnaire, and internal and external vulnerability assessments.

To provide additional flexibility, members may also choose to use another qualified cybersecurity vendor for a comprehensive assessment or tabletop exercise. In those cases, the Authority will reimburse the member up to the amount the Authority would otherwise pay for the same service through Triden Group. Any cost above that amount will remain the member’s responsibility.

These expanded resources complement the Authority’s existing cybersecurity tools, including KnowBe4 for security awareness training and phishing simulations, Eagle Eye for cyber risk management, and eRiskHub, an online portal with cybersecurity resources and incident response planning tools.

For more information or to access these services, members should contact their regional risk manager.

City of Monrovia Celebrates Parks and Recreation Month with Satoru Tsuneishi Park

The California JPIA is kicking off Parks and Recreation month by featuring the work its members do to keep public spaces safe, accessible, and thriving. In the City of Monrovia, Parks and Recreation Month arrives alongside the opening of Satoru Tsuneishi Park, a public space that demonstrates how comprehensive community engagement and proactive risk management create grounded community spaces.

The project originated from the citywide parks master plan adopted in 2018, which identified a need for park space south of Huntington Drive and the 210 freeway. Because Monrovia is the fourth-oldest city in Los Angeles County and is nearly built out, finding open space presented a significant challenge. However, in 2021, a local company donated an open tract to the city, providing the park space.

Community Services Director Rebecca Sandoval emphasized that the city does not plan parks in a vacuum. Starting in the fall of 2023, the department conducted extensive outreach, connecting with residents, local businesses, and managers from a neighboring hotel. This collaborative approach revealed operational and risk management considerations that directly shaped the park design.

“We heard from a local hotel that many of their guests are receiving treatment at the City of Hope hospital and are looking for a space to read, so we knew benches were going to be important,” said Sandoval. “We heard from nearby restaurants that there is a lot of trash getting left in their driveways. From the community, we heard that coyotes frequented the neighborhood because there was a wash nearby.”

To address these concerns, the city selected specialized, compacting trash receptacles rather than standard bins to mitigate wildlife interactions. Due to the proximity of Route 66 and the 210 Freeway, traffic safety was another primary focus. The city coordinated with its traffic safety committee to evaluate vehicle flows, ultimately installing a perimeter fence with push bar gates around the playground. To encourage safe pedestrian habits, the city partnered with an adjacent restaurant to paint pathways leading safely to the park entrance. The department also installed energy-efficient safety lighting to deter unauthorized nighttime use and to support hotel guests utilizing the walking paths. The playground features pour-in-place surfacing, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking spaces and ramps, and diverse play options that accommodate children of all abilities.

“By incorporating risk management throughout every phase of the project, city staff helped deliver a park that prioritizes safety, durability, and community value,” said California JPIA Senior Risk Manager, Maria Galvan.

Staff also worked to tie the park to Monrovia’s local history. Following the city’s public naming policy, residents selected the name to honor Satoru Tsuneishi, an acclaimed haiku poet and the first Japanese American graduate of Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School, whose family farmed strawberries along Route 66. The city incorporated historic touches throughout the space, including an art mural depicting his life story and wraps with historical photographs of local Asian American families.

The City of Monrovia continues to prioritize playground safety and improvements, with upcoming projects planned for Kiwanis Park and Recreation Park. For other member agencies balancing community programming with risk management, Sandoval advises looking beyond municipal borders. A project is more successful when the community is involved as partners, including local historic groups, traffic committees, businesses, and the California JPIA.

“The project is just so much more seamless when the community is involved,” said Sandoval. “It is not in a bubble. So many hands helped make the park even better, which is so rewarding.”

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