FAQs
Families of public safety officers who have sustained a fatal line of duty injury are eligible to receive a one-time death benefit, based upon a hierarchy of payment. Please refer to the table below for information about the claim beneficiary payment hierarchy.
Claim Beneficiary Payment Hierarchy:
|
Condition |
Death Benefit Disbursement |
|
If the public safety officer has a surviving spouse and no eligible children |
100% to surviving spouse |
|
If the public safety officer has a surviving spouse and age-eligible (non-adult) children |
50% to surviving spouse; and 50% divided evenly among eligible children |
|
If the public safety officer has no surviving spouse, but has children |
100% divided evenly among eligible children |
|
If the public safety officer has no spouse and no children |
100% to the PSOB benefits designee on file with the public safety officer’s employing agency |
|
If the public safety officer has no spouse, no children, and no PSOB benefits designee |
100% to life insurance designee on file with the public safety officer’s employing agency |
|
If the public safety officer has no spouse, no children, no PSOB benefits designee or life insurance designee |
100% divided evenly among the public safety officer’s parents |
|
If the public safety officer has no spouse, no children, no PSOB benefits designee, no life insurance designee, or no surviving parents |
100% divided evenly among the public safety officer’s adult children |
The Benefits page provides information about the PSOB program and instructions for filing PSOB death, disability, and education benefits applications. View a short video on how to file for PSOB benefits using PSOB's online claims portal.
The Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act of 1976, Public Law 94-430 is codified at 42 U.S.C. Chapter 46, Subchapter XII. Its implementing regulations are found at 28 C.F.R. pt. 32. Visit the page containing PSOB's law and regulations for more information.
For Death Benefits:
You may apply for PSOB death benefits at any time after the death of a public safety officer. Before you submit your application, please ensure that you have thoroughly reviewed the information found on the PSOB website.
A complete application for death benefits must be received by the PSOB Office, no later than the following:
- Three years after the public safety officer's death; or
- One year after a final determination (approval or denial) of any benefit legally payable by the employing public safety agency with respect to deaths of public safety officers of his kind, rank, and tenure; or
- One year after certification from the employing public safety agency that it is not legally authorized to pay any benefits to any person with respect to the deaths of public safety officers of his kind, rank, and tenure.
For Disability Benefits:
A public safety officer may apply for PSOB disability benefits after he or she is medically retired from service and is permanently and totally disabled as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.
A complete application for disability benefits must be received by the PSOB Office, no later than the following:
- Three years after the public safety officer's injury date; or
- One year after receiving a final approval determination granting the maximum disability benefits (including workers' compensation) legally payable by the agency with respect to public safety officers of his kind, rank, and tenure; or
- One year after a final determination denying the public safety officer disability benefits (including workers' compensation) with respect to disabled public safety officers of his kind, rank, and tenure; or
- One year after the receipt of a certification from the employing public safety agency that it is not legally authorized to pay any benefits with respect to disabled public safety officer of his kind, rank, and tenure to any person.
For Education Benefits:
You may apply for PSOB education benefits after receiving an approved determination for a PSOB death or disability benefit. PSOB regulations limit payments to forty-five months of full-time education or training or a proportional period of time for a part-time program. PSOB regulations also limit payment for education completed by an eligible child up to the child’s 27th birthday.
See Required Documents - Filing a PSOB Death Claim for information on the documents needed to submit a Death Benefits application.
See Required Documents - Filing a PSOB Disability Claim for information on the documents needed to submit a Disability Benefits application.
Contact the PSOB Office at 1-888-744-6513 and a Customer Resource Specialist will guide you through the process based upon your circumstances.
See Reviewing PSOB Claims for information on the PSOB claims review process.
For information on the PSOB Appeals process or to review a guide on submitting an Appeal Request, visit the Benefits homepage.
For Death Benefits:
The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) regulations provide that a claim must be filed within three years after the date of the individual’s death or one year after the receipt or denial of any benefits payable by the officer’s agency, unless the time for filing is extended by the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for good cause shown. 28 C.F.R. § 32.12(a).
In order for the BJA Director to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to waive the filing timeframe for a claim, please provide a statement addressed to the “BJA Director” explaining why you did not file your claim within the required time period.
After drafting the statement, send your filing extension request, along with any supporting evidence to [email protected].
For Disability Benefits:
The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) regulations provide that a claim must be filed within three years from the injury date or one year after the Public Safety Officer has either received or been denied the maximum disability benefits legally payable by the individual’s public agency. The time for filing may be extended by the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for good cause shown. See 28 C.F.R. § 32.22(a).
In order for the BJA Director to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to waive the filing requirement for your claim, please provide a statement addressed to the BJA Director explaining why you did not file your claim within the required time period, and noting the dates requested below.
- Date of Injury
- Date of Medical Retirement
- Date of Approval or Denial of Disability Retirement Benefits
After drafting the statement, send your filing extension request, along with any supporting evidence to [email protected].
For Appeal Requests:
The timeframe to submit an Appeal Request is 33 days from the date stamped on your notification letter. If your Appeal Request is being submitted past the timeframe, you must include a statement justifying your late submission to the PSOB Office in order for the BJA Director to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to waive the filing requirement for your claim. Your statement must establish good cause for a filing extension to be granted. See 28 C.F.R. § 32.42 and 28 C.F.R. § 32.52.
After drafting the statement, send your filing extension request, along with any supporting evidence to [email protected].
After submitting your statement:
After your statement is submitted, it will be reviewed and you will be contacted regarding your request. For questions regarding this statement, please do not hesitate to contact PSOB at 1-888-744-6513 or by submitting a message to the PSOB Office using Messages in MyPSOB.
The Dale Long Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Dale Long Act) amended the statutory definitions under the PSOB Act, prescribing coverage for "members of rescue squads and ambulance crews," to include individuals employed by private, nonprofit emergency medical services agencies; however, this coverage does not extend to individuals employed by for-profit agencies.
Under current law, at 34 U.S.C. § 10284(7), rescue squad or ambulance crew member status is limited to officially recognized or designated employee or volunteer members of a rescue squad or ambulance crew that is itself a "public agency" or "is (or is a part of) a nonprofit entity serving the public." A private for-profit emergency medical services agency does not qualify as a "public agency" or a "nonprofit entity serving the public" as defined under the PSOB Act, so the paramedics and emergency medical technicians employed by it are not "public safety officers" for purposes of PSOB eligibility.
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Yes, a state or territory, including the District of Columbia, without eligible public defenders may still apply for JRJ funding. If a state does not have eligible “public defenders” (as defined by the JRJ statute) that state’s loan repayment disbursements will go to state and local prosecutors, by default. The state must still ensure a fair allocation of repayment benefits among prosecutors and public defenders wherever applicable. States should note that certain federal public defenders are eligible beneficiaries under the JRJ statute. Every state has full- time federal public defenders who practice within that state. Thus, the absence of eligible state or local “public defenders” will not, in and of itself, absolve the state from ensuring a fair allocation between eligible prosecutors and public defenders.
As described in the JRJ solicitation, applicants must describe the JRJ agency’s plan to consider a fair distribution of funding.
No. Although the statute does not specifically prohibit the awarding of JRJ funds to elected officials (assuming they otherwise would qualify as an eligible beneficiary), BJA, in its discretion, has determined that policy and ethical considerations preclude elected officials from being eligible. This prohibition does not extend to persons who hold elected offices other than as a prosecutor or public defender (e.g., city council member status unrelated to prosecutor/public defender position), provided: (1) a reasonable person could conclude that the individual’s elected status did not form a basis for their selection for JRJ benefits; (2) that the person did not use their office to influence a decision pertaining to the application; and (3) that the person’s obligations to his/her elected office do not interfere with the fulfillment of the JRJ service obligation.