California JPIA Receives Accreditation with Excellence

The California Joint Power Insurance Authority (JPIA) has been awarded Accreditation with Excellence by the California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) for a three-year term from 2019-2022.

Created in 1981, CAJPA is a statewide association for insurance-based risk sharing pools that provides continuing education, legislative advocacy, and active involvement in regulatory matters on behalf of its joint powers authority members. CAJPA is California’s leading voice for pools, risk management, and JPA’s.

CAJPA sponsors the nation’s first risk management accreditation program. The program, established in 1988, forms a set of professional standards which serve as a guideline for all risk management pools regardless of size, scope of operation, or membership structure.

“An accreditation, particularly an Accreditation with Excellence provides confidence to our members, in that there has been an external examination into our pool’s legal, contract and operational documents, risk management practices, loss control and claims program, and ensured that we are meeting statutory compliance,” said California JPIA Chief Executive Officer Jon Shull. “We are proud to have been awarded CAJPA’s highest recognition, Accreditation with Excellence, a title which is reserved for those JPA’s who exceed the mandatory requirements for accreditation.”

“To put this recognition in context,” said California JPIA Business Projects Manager Carl Sandstrom, who serves on CAJPA’s technology and accreditation committees, “there are about 135 risk-sharing pools in California. Of those, about 100 are members of CAJPA and of those, about 60 have achieved CAJPA’s rigorous accreditation.”

The factors on which the CAJPA accreditation is based are comprehensive: more than 30 pages of standards encompassing governance, operations, claims management, finance, and accounting. The foundation of the accreditation program is:

  • To promote professional management and fiscally sound practices
  • To provide industry standards that can be used in evaluating levels of performance and compliance
  • To develop a self-regulating process thorough, responsive and cost effective
  • To assist managers in achieving and assure governing boards of meeting high standards
  • To provide an opportunity to compare certain policies and procedures to the accreditation standards and other pools in the industry

“The accreditation process was created, and continues to be cultivated, to ensure the long-term health of the risk-sharing pool industry,” said Sandstrom. “By formalizing a self-regulating program through accreditation, members of pools benefit from higher operating standards and financial controls. It is CAJPA’s answer to the question: “Who can help us ensure our JPA is being operated in the best way possible?”

More information on CAJPA and its accreditation program can be found at www.cajpa.org.

Providing innovative risk management solutions for its public agency partners for more than 40 years, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (California JPIA) is one of the largest municipal self-insurance pools in the state, with more than 100 member cities and other governmental agencies.  Members actively participate in shaping the organization to provide important coverage for their operations. The California JPIA provides innovative risk management solutions through a comprehensive portfolio of programs and services, including liability, workers’ compensation, pollution, property, and earthquake coverage, as well as extensive risk management training and loss control services.

President Curtis Morris, Kimberly Dennis representing CAJPA, and Chief Executive Officer Jon Shull.