Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program: Death Benefits

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program provides a one-time financial benefit to the eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths are the direct and proximate result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty.

Checklist for Public Safety Agencies Filing a PSOB Death Claim
Report of Public Safety Officer's Death
Claim Form for PSOB Death Benefits
Consent to Release Information Form
The Report and Claim forms may now be completed and submitted online at: https://www.psob.gov.

Eligibility

Beneficiaries of the PSOB Death Benefits Program must comply with the PSOB Office's administrative review process by producing sufficient evidence to show that the public safety officer died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.

• State and local law enforcement officers and firefighters.

• Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters.

• Federal, state, and local public rescue squads and ambulance crews.

• Employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state, local, and tribal emergency management and civil defense agency employees working in cooperation with FEMA are considered to be public safety officers under the PSOB Program, provided they were performing official, hazardous duties related to a declared major disaster or emergency. Consequently, these individuals are covered for line-of-duty deaths occurring on or after that date.

• Chaplains serving as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally organized police department, or an officially recognized or designated public employee of a legally organized fire or police department who was responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency.

Applying for Death Benefits

Eligible survivors may file claims with the PSOB Office through the public agency in which the public safety officer served.

1. After a fatality occurs, the department should:

   • Make arrangements for an autopsy, which often provides the PSOB Office with useful information regarding the cause of death.

   • Identify a department member to serve as a liaison between the department and the PSOB Office.

2. After being named, the department's liaison should:

   • Call the PSOB Office at 1–888–744–6513.

   • Provide accurate, up-to-date information regarding:

     • The public agency's name and address.

     • The liaison's name and title.

     • Phone numbers for the department and the liaison.

     • The liaison's e-mail address so the PSOB Office can send the claim initiation packet.

     • The name and title of the deceased public safety officer.

     • The date of the incident and the deceased's date of death.

     • The cause of death and a brief description of the incident.

   • Relay the information very carefully and include only what is known. If the cause of death is unknown, there should be no speculation.

   • Leave a phone message with the liaison's name and telephone number if calling during the evening or on a weekend.

3. After being informed of an incident by the department liaison or other sources, the PSOB Office will e-mail a claim initiation packet to the department liaison.

4. After receiving the claim initiation packet, the liaison should:

   • Meet with the claimant as soon as possible to complete the Claim for Death Benefits form.

   • Complete the Report of Public Safety Officer's Death form.

   • Gather the other documentation requested in the PSOB Checklist.

5. Upon receiving the claim materials from the liaison, the PSOB Office may contact the department liaison and/or family if further information is needed.

6. The PSOB Office works closely with Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), both of which provide an array of support services that may be helpful to the survivors immediately after a line-of-duty death. When the Consent To Release Confidential Information form is signed by the claimant and returned with the other requested documents, the PSOB Office will forward the claimant's name and address to the appropriate partner agency so that contact may be initiated.

7. Once the processing is completed, the PSOB Office will send a letter notifying the claimant and department of the decision reached. Should the claim be denied, information on the appeals process also will be provided.

Payment of Death Benefits

Following approval of a death benefits claim, the eligible survivors will be paid the benefit in a lump sum. This payment is made through the U.S. Department of the Treasury either by direct deposit or by check mailed to the claimant's home address (provided on the "Claim for Death Benefits" form) within 14 business days after the claimant's receipt of notification. If direct deposit is desired, the claimant will be required to submit his or her banking information.

The Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. § 3796, et seq.) is retroactive to September 11, 2001, and amends the PSOB Act of 1976 in the following ways:

• Includes chaplains in the definition of public safety officers.

• Defines chaplain as "including any individual serving as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally organized fire or police department who was responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency."

• Adds a new category of beneficiary. If the public safety officer had no surviving spouse or eligible children, the individual designated as the beneficiary on the officer's most recently executed life insurance policy is eligible for benefits.¹

Who Will Receive Benefits if the Claim Is Approved?

Benefits will be paid to survivors according to the following criteria:

1. If there is a spouse and no child* or children, all to the spouse.
2. If there is a spouse and child or children, one-half to the spouse and one-half to the child or children in equal shares.
3. If no spouse, and children only, all to the child or children in equal shares.
4. If no spouse or children, then to the individual designated by the officer as beneficiary on file with the officer's agency, or if no designation, to the individual designated as the beneficiary on the most recently executed life insurance policy on file with the officer's agency.
5. If none of the above, to the officer's parents in equal shares.

*"Child" is defined as any natural, illegitimate, adopted, or posthumous child or stepchild of a deceased public safety officer who, at the time of the officer's death, is either 18 years old or under, or between 19 and 22 and a full-time student, or who is incapable of self-support due to a physical or mental disability.