Volume 30 
                                                Issue 8
                                                August 2020
                                                 www.pacounties.org
                                                                                         

INSURANCE MATTERS

An e-newsletter of the County Commissioners
Association of Pennsylvania Insurance Programs
 
Owned by Members     Governed by Members     Service to Members
In This Issue
Specialty Lines

 
  

Law Enforcement Liability Claims - Special Report

The PCoRP claims team just completed a lengthy project focusing on historic claims data. The PCoRP Claims and Risk Control Committee (a committee of the PCoRP Board) asked staff to provide more information on law enforcement liability claims trends.

Our claims system was initially set up to put all law enforcement liability claims into one code, as all these claims are covered by one section of the PCoRP Coverage Document. But the mix of claims is pretty extensive. In recent years the staff and board members have seen the total costs of law enforcement liability claims creeping upwards. So, the question became, what kinds of law enforcement claims are driving costs up? The claims staff analyzed and recorded all law enforcement claims since 2010 - more than 1,500 claims - to give us better details of where severity and frequency is being driven. And the results were pretty eye opening.

Since the beginning of the 2011-12 coverage year, and through the end of the 2018-19 coverage year, six of the eight policy years have seen claims totals far exceed the average of prior year's costs. This is clearly not just a fluke, but what I would consider to be the new trend. So, we wanted to see if there were ways to pinpoint which county operations were driving claims costs.

Our analysis shows that over nine coverage years PCoRP has expended $33.2 million for claims related to county prisons. The next closest county department had claims costs of $7.7 million. It is no surprise that county prisons are seeing increased lawsuit activity, but these costs are not only significant, they continue to rise each year. Looking at the data, it is also not a case of one or two members driving the costs. Twelve members have had claims of $2 million or more, and every member that has a prison has had claims costs.
 
Here are the top causes of prison claims by cost (severity):
  1. Prison medical care (provided by the county)
  2. Conditions of confinement
  3. Excessive Force by prison staff
  4. Hostile acts by others
  5. Suicide
  6. Prison medical care (contracted)
Here are the top causes of prison claims by the number of claims (frequency):
  1. Conditions of confinement
  2. Excessive Force by prison staff
  3. Attempted Suicide
  4. Prison medical care (contracted) (tied)
  5. Civil Rights violations (tied)
  6. Hostile Acts by others
PCoRP has long been committed to helping counties with prison management. We offer an annual Prison Risk Management Workshop to review legal and risk issues - each year it is our highest attended workshop. Our investment also included a three year prison electronic documentation project, at a cost of more than two million dollars, to provide prisons with systems to document interactions with inmates and provide evidence to defend allegations against the prison. In addition, the PCoRP Board has continued the Loss Prevention Grant program for the 2020-2021 policy year, up to $20,000 per member - an annual commitment of more than $1 million.

The PCoRP Board reviewed and analyzed the prison claims data at their meeting in early July, and our next step is to share with each PCoRP member their prison related loss history. PCoRP staff will be reaching out to meet with you to review thoroughly and look for solutions on how to mitigate future loss potential . We encourage members to review their prison data and look for the best ways to reduce prison related claims costs. In the next several months your assigned PCoRP Risk Control Representative will be in touch to discuss.

Make sure you contact us when you need help with something, 
                                 John Sallade
PCoRP Loss Prevention Grants Continue to Help Members!

PCoRP's loss control grants continue to help member counties and county related entities to fund projects and buy equipment to reduce risk. The grant year for the 2019 - 2020 policy year ended on May 31, 2020 and members used $1,030,123 of the total funding, which left $69,525 unused. Monies not used by the member remain in PCoRP's surplus. Members used 93.7% of the $1,099,648 available, which was down slightly from last year.

For more information about the PCoRP Loss Prevention Grant program, contact
Keith Wentz at CCAP.
Annual PComp Membership Meeting - September 3

The 2020 PComp Annual Membership Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 3 at 1:30 p.m. via GoToMeeting. A link will be sent to all PComp members, along with the meeting agenda. The agenda will include a program update and a review of and vote on the proposed updates to the PComp Bylaws. Since there are proposed changes to the method of selection of PComp board members, if the bylaws are approved, the election of board members for 2021 will then be conducted via email nominations and voting in October and November.

Watch for more information, and if you have any questions please direct them to
John Sallade .
Hot Topics
Telling Stories

My staff will confirm that I love to tell stories. Often this results from a discussion about a particular issue in a county, and I will recall another instance where something identical or similar happened in another county in a land far, far away. You get the idea....
 
I see storytelling used by county officials and staff every day. Commissioners get together at meetings and ask "how do you handle this in your county?" and the explanation of how and why starts. A question hits the HR listserv and while some answers are "yes" or "no" there are also details of what worked, which company has the best software, and more. Interactions such as these can also be an effective way to vent - about changing times, frustrations with regulations, lack of volunteers, etc. Storytelling helps build connections, share experiences and yes, even teach.
 
During this pandemic we've seen increased use and interest in listservs. CCAP has many varieties - for CCAP members, solicitors, risk managers, HR directors - and they have all been actively used. (Watch for more details soon as we need to move these to new platforms.) It is inspiring to watch how you all share information and help each with good advice and documents that save each other hours of work.

The methods by which we tell stories may have changed, but the value remains.

For more information, contact John Sallade .
UC Trust Members - Remember to Earn Your Five Percent Credit!

Just a reminder, participation in the 2020 Unemployment Compensation Trust Risk Control Incentive Program can earn members up to five percent credit toward each of the quarterly contributions for next year! As explained in the program document members have the opportunity to participate via online training, onsite training, providing updated policies and procedures (as applicable) and by timely reporting of unemployment related matters.
Member participation is verified through the completion of the 2020 Activity Program, which must be completed and submitted by Friday, September 11, 2020! In recognition of the travel issues related to the pandemic, the Trust's Risk Control Incentive Program document has been modified to allow alternatives to onsite training. Contact Desiree Nguyen at dnguyen@pacounties.org with questions about the program.


LocalGovU - Online Learning Platform

While many in-person workshops and conferences are being canceled, LocalGovU is still available! LocalGovU is CCAP's Insurance Programs online learning platform. 

We are proud to announce that we are offering this platform to PCoRP, PComp, UC Trust and PIMCC Members.  Click here to view the full course list!

For more information, please contact  Andrew Smith!  



OMNIA Partners - COVID 19 Resources

In this time of uncertainty, we know procurement teams are working tirelessly to address their school and public agency needs but are hindered by their availability to procure the necessary products and services,including personal protective equipment. OMNIA Partners, a cooperative purchasing organization that provides government and educational institutions access to a large portfolio of competitively solicited contracts from industry-leading suppliers, has assembled a task force to address your evolving needs during this time. This task force is working with the executive teams of our supplier partners to assist in the deployment of their COVID-19 plans.

Click here for more information on OMNIA Partners COVID-19 Resources!
New Associate Members

Ascent Data
www.ascentdata.com
Technology

Ascent Data is a risk-first managed IT services provider that helps organizations (government, police departments, businesses and non-profits) become more secure, more efficient, and more competitive. We reduce risk, minimize business interruptions, and deliver better outcomes more cost effectively. We serve as the full-time IT department for many organizations, and monitor, manage and support a broad range of IT environments with a staff on-site 24/7/365 at our Network Operations Center.

Federated Hermes 
www.federatedinvestors.com
Asset Management
Federated Hermes, Inc. is a leading global investment manager with $605.8 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2020. Guided by our conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term, our investment solutions span 135 equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity management strategies.
Quote of the Month 

"Maybe stories are just data with a soul."
 
Brené Brown
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Contact Us: John Sallade, Managing Director, CCAP Insurance Programs