This training fund assistance program was voted on and approved by the LAFFIA general membership after Board of Directors approval at the 2004 annual training conference in Covington, La.
This training fund assistance program is designed to assist LAFFIA members in attending schools or seminars that cannot be funded by the member’s respective organization or agency. This training fund assistance program was adopted as follows:
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Applicants must be a LAFFIA dues-paying member.
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Applicants must have completed two (2) consecutive years of dues-paying membership to apply.
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Applicants must submit a training fund request in writing on agency or organization letterhead to the LAFFIA Board of Directors. LAFFIA mailing address is as follows:
LAFFIA
245 Symphony Ln.
Shreveport, LA. 71105
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The application must include the organization conducting the training, the location of the training, the training curriculum, the date(s) of training, the training or registration fees, and the need of the applicant for this training. A training brochure is also requested.
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The total for all approved LAFFIA training fund expenditures for each fiscal year (April thru April) should not exceed $1500 unless approved by the Board of Directors.
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Requested training must be white collar, financial, identity theft, forgery or fraud crime related. (Review and approval by the Board of Directors is made on a case-by-case basis).
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The applicant must be working in an investigative capacity related to forgery or fraud type crimes. (i.e. a member working homicide exclusively or a traffic investigator wishing to attend a forgery or fraud school would not qualify).
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LAFFIA funding is primarily designed to assist in paying for registration fees. Training fund assistance should not include lodging, travel, and meal expenses unless offered as a “package” by the training organization. (i.e. Glynco).
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Applicants may appeal and request funding for these expenses to the Board of Directors citing “hardship” in that these expenses cannot be funded by the member’s organization or agency and cannot be funded by the member. This appeal will be made in writing to the Board of Directors . The member may be called upon by the Board to answer questions concerning this appeal. The Board will review each appeal on a case-by-case basis.
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Applicants must not be within one calendar year of retirement from his/her organization or agency. This retirement date must not be within one calendar year of the training date(s) of the requested school.
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In the event a Board member submits a training fund request, that Board member will recuse him/herself from the Board review of that specific training fund request.
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Members who receive LAFFIA funding and attend funded training shall submit a “critique” of the training school or seminar attended as to its value and worth. This may be an oral presentation at the annual LAFFIA training conference (membership group) or may be submitted to the Board orally or in writing who in turn submit the critique to the general membership at the annual LAFFIA training conference.
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The Board of Directors, with the help of the general membership and applicants who attend funded training, shall compile a list to establish a data base of various forgery and fraud schools. This list shall be continually revised and updated. Reviews of each school dealing with the school’s value and worth will be used for the inclusion or deletion of a school from the data base list. This “catalogue” of schools will be used as a reference tool only. Final approval for each school shall rest with review and approval by the Board of Directors on a case-by-case basis.
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Expenditures for the LAFFIA funded training shall be documented by the LAFFIA treasurer and submitted via the treasurer’s reports prepared throughout the year to the Board of Directors and at the annual training conference to the general membership. In addition, these expenditures will also be forwarded to the C.P.A. employed by LAFFIA for submission to the I.R.S. as required for the yearly tax return.
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Expenditures for the LAFFIA training fund program may be suspended by the Board of Directors if expenditures drain the organization’s financial resources to the point of negatively impacting the organization’s ability to maintain its day-to-day operations and annual training conference.
