Financial aid to local governments and districts is structured as reimbursement for expenditures directly related to compliance with Commission standards and participation in training courses. PC 13523 authorizes the Commission to allocate aid to cities, counties and districts that have applied and qualify for aid pursuant to Commission Regulations, specifying that aid be granted with respect to "an amount determined by the commission pursuant to standards set forth in its regulations." The law further requires that the Commission shall grant aid equally proportionate among the cities, counties and districts.

To address the mandates of legislation, the Commission established Regulation 1015 to describe the means of providing aid to eligible local agencies.

Pursuant to Regulation 1015 (a) "Reimbursement is based upon fund availability as approved by the Commission", and per Regulation 1015 (b) (3), “Reimbursement shall, subject to available funds, be provided only for satisfactorily completed training acquired by full-time employees in an on-duty status.”

The State of California holds a repository for assessments on specified fines, penalties, and forfeitures imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses.  The revenue received by POST has decreased over the last few years, thus negatively impacting POST's ability to reimburse for law enforcement training.

The reimbursement program is structured in five different plans that provide reimbursement to local jurisdictions for a combination of costs (e.g. per diem, travel, tuition, and backfill) associated with training.

Since the inception of POST reimbursement, each course has been certified with a specific POST reimbursement plan. 

The reimbursement plans are:

• Plan I:    per diem, travel, tuition, and backfill 
• Plan II:   per diem, travel, and backfill 
• Plan III:  per diem, travel and tuition
• Plan IV:  per diem and travel
• Plan V:   per diem, travel, and tuition (though presenter)
• Plan NA:  No reimbursement

A breakdown of the number of reimbursable courses certified by the Training and Delivery Bureau with respect to Reimbursement Plans (as of 10/02/17) is a follows:

• Plan I:     36
• Plan II:   590
• Plan III:  102
• Plan IV:   1,774
• Plan V:    24
• Plan NA: 1,411

When a training course is submitted for POST certification, specific factors are evaluated to include an unmet training need, appropriateness of course content, methods of course instruction, number of students per course, adequacy of testing or evaluation, and cost. These decisions are made by the respective law enforcement consultants, who are in the best position to assess training needs within a specific region. 

Further, the assignment of a specific reimbursement plan for a given training course was influenced by the status of the POST budget in the year in which the course was created.

An analysis of the POST catalog of certified courses reveals a tremendous amount of variation in the assigned Reimbursement Plans for various courses, based on the determination of the consultant who had approved the original course and the budget status in the FY it was created.  

To address this issue of variation in Reimbursement Plan assignment, as well as the need to more closely monitor expenditures to meet budget constraints, staff are currently working on realigning the Reimbursement Plans for all courses in its catalog, with the goal to address revenue challenges, better serve stakeholder needs, and to ensure consistency statewide.

This realignment process in POST’s allocation of Reimbursement monies will ensure POST is capable of providing training that is required by legislation and regulation, as well as critical disciplines, while also staying within the capacity of the allocated budget.  Conversely, this process will also mean some presenters of elective courses, who have enjoyed the benefit of generous reimbursement in support of their courses in past, and more abundant budget years, will realize a reduced reimbursement rate for attendees.

Training courses are certified to local law enforcement agencies, community colleges and private presenters. Presenters are encouraged to affiliate with a community college to offset costs to minimize the impact to POST’s budget, and to ensure an optimal return on investment for training monies. Private presenters may be considered for training courses that cannot be met by local law enforcement agencies or community colleges.

POST staff has extensive experience with the reimbursement program. Staff closely monitor expenditures and revenue, and have attempted to manage the budget and reimbursement program through years of financial instability and fluctuating revenues by means of initiating temporary suspension of reimbursement.

To compensate for declining revenues, POST, in conjunction with the Department of Finance, implemented an 18-month budget reduction plan beginning in January 1, 2014, which was followed by an ongoing reduction of $5.2 million included in the 2015 Budget Act.

Due to ongoing reductions in revenue, and to exercise fiscal prudence while still maintaining POST’s commitment to peace officer selection standards and mandated training, POST has continued budget reduction measures in the form of suspended reimbursements (Plans I-IV) for training, except for those generally associated with State of California mandates.

For a short window from April 1, 2015 through February 1, 2017, partial reimbursement was reinstated as the economic forecast appeared to be more positive. However, on February 1, 2017, POST had to reinstitute the Reimbursement suspension for all Plans due to the status and forecast of the budget.

The most recent renewal of the budget reduction measures was implemented on June 1, 2017, with a projected expiration of the suspension on January 1, 2018.

These budget reduction measures were presented to the field via the following POST Bulletins:

• Bulletin  2013-14 ( October 7, 2013, revised May 1, 2014)
• Bulletin  2014-16 (October 9, 2014)
• Bulletin  2015-02 (January 30, 2015)
• Bulletin 2015-07 (April 21, 2015) 
• Bulletin 2015-11 (June 30, 2015) 
• Bulletin 2016-07 (June 30, 2016)
• Bulletin 2017-01 (January 4, 2017, revised July 14, 2017)
• Bulletin 2017-23 (June 1, 2017, revised July 14, 2017)

The current forecast for the revenue source for training California’s law enforcement professionals creates a significant challenge for POST and the law enforcement community it serves. In fiscal year 17/18 POST encountered an approximate 21% reduction in funding, thus continuing the urgent budget challenge. While the demand for additional responsibility and therefore additional training for Californian peace officers continues to increase dramatically, funding and support of such training has significantly declined, and continues to do so.

It is apparent the field would be better served with a permanent reimbursement plan structure that realistically addresses the contemporary realities of law enforcement funding. To date, POST staff are utilizing incoming funds to reconcile debt from the previous years. POST staff are working diligently with the Department of Finance, and are actively seeking alternative revenue sources for peace officer training and collaborating with the legislature to reinforce the importance of public safety to California.  POST is actively researching opportunities to secure federal grant funding for mental health and de-escalation training.

To mitigate the impact of ongoing training challenges to the field, POST has created numerous distance learning opportunities through online courses on the POST Learning Portal, which is available at no cost to agencies. Learning Portal, courses have been very well received by the field, and POST will be expanding the number of online courses that qualify for Continuing Professional Training (CPT) credit as budgeting and staffing allows.

Nevertheless, outgoing reimbursement continues to exceed incoming revenue, thus aggravating the ongoing deficit. POST has no control over the instability of the incoming revenue sources, but does have control over allocation of reimbursement expenditures.

To address the inconsistency of the revenue stream, POST staff are taking the initiative to establish a more permanent process to keep expenditures in line with declining revenues. To that extent, POST staff are realigning the Reimbursement Plans. As a consequence, POST Staff will be compelled to reduce reimbursement for certain elective courses, while also creating a permanent and consistent reimbursement process.

Prioritization shall be based on criteria, including, but not limited to the following:

• Legislatively Mandated training
• Regulatory Mandated training
• Mission Essential training
• POST Legacy/Leadership Courses

These criteria are consistent with the process POST has established through temporary mitigation measures since 2014, with respect to the suspension of course reimbursement. Courses that do not meet the above-mentioned criteria will be realigned as Plan NA, effective January 1, 2018, which coincides with the expiration of the most recent temporary course suspension Bulletin. (Bulletin 2017-23).   Contract courses will be exempt from this plan for the duration of the existing contracts.

By establishing a baseline for POST courses, POST staff will no longer be required to continue temporary course reimbursement measures. Further, the plan will allow POST staff the latitude to temporarily increase reimbursement to meet an exigent or unique critical training need, or in response to a restoration or increase in POST’s allocated budget in future years. In establishment of realignment, POST may also take into consideration hardship factors for various agencies, based on size of the department, proximity to training sites, regulatory timing, and agency budget challenges.

In addition to the reassignment of many elective courses to Plan NA, POST staff will be looking at eventual revision of reimbursement regulations and/or protocol with respect to travel and reimbursement. Experience has shown that some training requirements can be met locally, without the need for lengthy travel or overnight lodging, and a significant manner of reducing high-cost expenditures is to reduce the number of courses for which travel and per diem is paid.

Additional remedies POST staff will implement to mitigate budget defecits commensurate with reduced state revenues include, but are not limited to: 

• Establishing an hourly cap on reimbursement 
• Establishing a cap on daily reimbursement levels 
• Creating mileage restrictions on training travel
• Creating a hotel reimbursement cap based on the lowest State rate

POST Staff intend to address any future restorations in revenues with commensurate increases in reimbursement. And, in the future staff may propose revision of the Reimbursement Plans codified in regulation based on whether the training is mandated or non-mandated, rather than the current Plan-based model.

Anticipated savings are difficult to project with any modicum of accuracy due to the tremendous number of variables with respect to realignment of the Reimbursement Plans. Nevertheless, POST staff believe this process will provide a higher level of consistency in reimbursement allocations. 

POST staff hope the changes being implemented will allow the most essential training courses to be presented, while also enabling POST to stay within its authorized budget appropriation, exercise consistency in distribution of monies, allow for reimbursement levels to be more flexible to address future fluctuation in revenues, and provide staff with a better opportunity to address unique training needs and hardships for specific stakeholders.