The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of duty. The Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) program, a component of the PSOB program, provides higher-education assistance to the children and spouses of public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
The PSOB and PSOEA programs are administered by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Claimants dissatisfied with denials of benefits may pursue administrative appeals within DOJ and may seek judicial review before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Each year, Congress appropriates funding for PSOB death benefits, which is considered mandatory spending, and for PSOB disability benefits and PSOEA benefits, which is subject to annual appropriations. For FY2025, the one-time lump-sum PSOB death and disability benefit is $448,575 and the PSOEA monthly benefit for a student attending an educational institution full-time is $1,536.
On November 18, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61) which made numerous amendments to the PSOB and PSOEA programs as indicated in various places in this report.
On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-172), which expanded PSOB coverage to include, in certain cases, mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), disabilities caused by attempted suicides, and deaths caused by officer suicides.
The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of duty.1 The Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) program, a component of the PSOB program, provides higher-education assistance to the children and spouses of public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.2 Both programs are administered by the PSOB Office of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).3
Congress appropriates funds for these programs in the annual Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. For FY2025, the one-time lump-sum PSOB benefit is $448,575 and the monthly full-time attendance PSOEA benefits is $1,536. The PSOB and PSOEA benefit amounts are indexed to reflect changes in the cost of living.
To be eligible for PSOB benefits for death or disability, a person must have served in one of the following categories of public safety officers:
There is no minimum amount of time a person must have served to be eligible for benefits.
To be eligible for PSOB benefits as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or chaplain, a person must have served in a "public agency" in an official capacity, with or without compensation.4 For the purposes of PSOB eligibility, a public agency is defined as
For the purposes of PSOB eligibility, a law enforcement officer is defined as "an individual involved in crime and juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of the criminal laws (including juvenile delinquency), including, but not limited to, police, corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers."7
For the purposes of PSOB eligibility, the definition of firefighter includes both professional firefighters and persons serving as an "officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department."8 In addition to members responsible for fire suppression and rescue services, members of volunteer fire departments who are responsible for scene security and traffic management as their primary or only duties (often referred to as fire-police) are considered firefighters for the purposes of PSOB eligibility.9
A chaplain is eligible for PSOB benefits if he or she is either an "officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally organized police department" or a public employee of a police or fire department and was responding to a police, fire, or rescue emergency.10
A person who is enrolled or admitted as a cadet or trainee in a formal training program, such as a police or fire academy, that leads to a law enforcement commission or official license or authorization to perform fire suppression, rescue, or emergency medical services activities is considered a public safety officer for the purposes of PSOB eligibility while engaged in an activity that is a formal part of the training program.11
Employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state, local, or tribal emergency management agencies may be eligible for PSOB benefits under certain conditions provided in statute. A FEMA employee or an employee of a state, local, or tribal emergency management agency working with FEMA is eligible for PSOB benefits if he or she is performing official duties that are related to a major disaster or an emergency declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act)12 and that are considered hazardous by the FEMA Administrator or the head of the state, local, or tribal agency.13
A member, including a volunteer member, of a rescue squad or "ambulance crew" who is authorized or licensed by law and the applicable agency and is engaging in rescue services or providing emergency medical services may be eligible for PSOB benefits.14 The rescue squad or ambulance service may provide ground or air ambulance services and may be either a public agency or a nonprofit entity authorized to provide rescue or emergency medical services.15 By PSOB regulation, eligible emergency medical services workers include rescue workers, ambulance drivers, paramedics, health care responders, emergency medical technicians, or others who are trained in rescue activity or emergency medical services and have the legal authority and responsibility to provide such services.16
An employee of the Department of Energy (DOE) may be eligible for PSOB benefits if that employee is a nuclear material courier or member of an emergency response team and is performing official duties of the DOE to assess, locate, identify, secure, render safe, or dispose of weapons of mass destruction or manage the immediate consequences of a radiological release or exposure.17
To qualify for coverage under the PSOB program, a public safety officer's disability or death must have been the result of a personal injury. The PSOB regulation defines an injury for the purposes of benefit eligibility as:
a traumatic physical wound (or a traumatized physical condition of the body) directly and proximately caused by external force (such as bullets, explosives, sharp instruments, blunt objects, or physical blows), chemicals, electricity, climatic conditions, infectious disease, radiation, virus, or bacteria, and includes (with respect to a WTC [World Trade Center] responder) a WTC-related health condition.18
At the time of enactment of P.L. 117-172, the PSOB regulation also generally provided that the definition of injury did not include an occupational disease or a condition of the body caused by stress or strain, including mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. However, an amendment to the statute enacted on August 16, 2022, expanded the definition of injury to include post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorders, and trauma- and stress-related disorders in cases in which an officer was exposed on duty to one or more of the following types of traumatic events:
An officer is considered to have been exposed to a traumatic event if the officer witnessed the event or was subjected to the "aversive consequences" of the event, including the collection of human remains.
The PSOB statute specifically provides for deaths caused by certain cardiovascular conditions and COVID-19 as discussed later in this report.
The PSOB program covers a public safety officer's death or disability if it occurred as the result of an injury incurred in the line of duty. The PSOB regulations provide that an injury occurs in the line of duty if it (1) is the result of the public safety officer's authorized activities while on duty, (2) occurs while responding to an emergency or request for assistance, or (3) occurs while commuting to or from duty in an authorized department or personal vehicle. In addition, if there is convincing evidence that the injury was the result of the individual's status as a public safety officer, that injury is covered by the PSOB program.20
The death of a public safety officer due to a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture shall be presumed to be a death from a personal injury sustained in the line of duty for the purposes of PSOB eligibility if the officer engaged in nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity as part of an emergency response or training exercise and if the condition began during the physical activity, while the officer remained on duty after the physical activity, or within 24 hours of the physical activity.21
The Safeguarding America's First Responders Act (P.L. 116-157), as amended by the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61), provides a presumption of PSOB eligibility for public safety officers who have COVID-19 at the time of death or are disabled due to COVID-19.22 To be eligible for this presumption, the officer had to have engaged in line of duty action or activity between January 1, 2020, and May 11, 2023 (the date on which the public health emergency for COVID-19 declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services expired), and had COVID-19 within 45 days of being on duty during the aforementioned period.
A disability caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma- and stress-related disorders is presumed to have been incurred in the line of duty, and thus to be compensable, if the officer was exposed on duty to one of the types of traumatic events provided in the statute and such exposure was a substantial factor in the condition.23
A disability or death resulting from an officer's attempted suicide or suicide is presumed to have been incurred in the line of duty, and thus be compensable, if one of the following occurred:
The eligibility presumption for attempted suicide and suicide is effective for any attempted suicide or suicide that occurs on or after January 1, 2019.
A law enforcement officer, firefighter, chaplain, or emergency medical services member may be eligible for PSOB benefits if he or she sustains an injury that occurred while taking certain actions outside of his or her legal jurisdiction during an emergency situation. Such actions must not have been part of compensated public safety or security work and must have been actions that would ordinarily be considered within the authorized line of duty of a public safety officer with legal authority to act in that jurisdiction.25 Actions taken outside of a public safety officer's jurisdiction shall be presumed to be covered by the PSOB program if the principal legal officer and head of the public safety officer's agency both certify that the actions:
The lump-sum PSOB death and disability benefit for FY2025 is $448,575.27 The benefit amount is adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living using the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the one-year period ending in the previous June.28 If a public safety officer receives a disability benefit and later dies from the same injury, the officer's survivors may not receive a PSOB death benefit.
The payable benefit amount is based on the date of the public safety officer's death or the date of the injury that caused the disability, rather than on the date of application for benefits or disability determination. Thus, if a benefit increase occurs while an application is pending, the benefit is payable at the previous, lower, benefit level. However, if a claim is pending for more than one year when a final determination is made, the amount of benefits shall be based on the date of the determination rather than the date of the death or injury.29
A lump-sum interim payment of up to $6,000, subject to the same annual cost-of-living adjustment as applied to the total benefit amount, may be made if a PSOB death benefit will "probably be paid."30 The interim payment amount reduces the final PSOB payment amount.31 If the ultimate decision is to deny death benefits, the interim payment must be returned to the federal government unless this repayment is waived because it would create a hardship for the beneficiary.32
Death and disability benefits are not subject to the federal income tax.33 In general, PSOB death and disability benefits are paid in addition to any other workers' compensation, life insurance, or other benefits paid for the death of a public safety officer.34 However, the PSOB death benefit is offset by the following benefits:35
PSOB death benefits are payable to the eligible spouse and children of a public safety officer. A spouse is the person to whom the officer is legally married, even if physically separated, under the marriage laws of the jurisdiction where the marriage took place. Pursuant to regulations issued after the Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act39 the legally married spouse of a public safety officer may be of the same sex as the officer.40
A child is defined as any "natural, illegitimate, adopted, or posthumous child or stepchild" of the public safety officer who, at the time of the public safety officer's death or fatal injury or the date of the officer's injury or final determination of eligibility, is
PSOB death benefits are paid to eligible survivors in the following order:
PSOB disability benefits are paid only in cases of permanent and total disability. There are no PSOB benefits payable for partial or short-term disabilities. A disability is considered permanent for the purposes of PSOB eligibility if, given the current state of medicine in the United States, there is a degree of medical certainty that the condition will remain constant or deteriorate over the person's lifetime or that the public safety officer has reached maximum medical improvement.43
A public safety officer is considered to be totally disabled for the purposes of PSOB eligibility if, given the current state of medicine in the United States on the date of the determination of eligibility, the officer is functionally incapable of performing any work at all, including sedentary work. The lack of capability to work may be due to a neurocognitive disorder directly or proximately caused by the officer's injury.44
When determining if a public safety officer is capable of working, work providing compensation that is de minimis, nominal, honorary, or solely as a reimbursement for incidental expenses is to be disregarded, including the following types of work:
An officer shall be presumed, absent clear and convincing medical evidence to the contrary, to be unable to work if the officer's injury renders the officer blind, paraplegic, or quadriplegic.46
Applications for PSOB death and disability benefits are filed with the PSOB office, which determines benefit eligibility and commences benefit payment. Unless extended for good cause, application deadlines must be met. Complete benefit applications must be filed no later than
DOJ may use investigative tools, including subpoenas, to expedite the processing of a claim and obtain information from third parties, including public agencies. DOJ may not abandon a claim unless it has used investigative tools, including subpoenas, to obtain the information necessary to adjudicate the claim.49
Section 611 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act; P.L. 107-56) provides for expedited payment of PSOB death and disability benefits if the officer's injury occurred "in connection with prevention, investigation, rescue, or recovery efforts related to a terrorist attack."50 In such cases, PSOB benefits must be paid within 30 days of certification from the officer's employing agency that the officer's death or disability was related to terrorism.
The Public Safety Officers' Education Assistance (PSOEA) program provides financial assistance with costs associated with higher education to the spouse or children of a public safety officer who is eligible for PSOB death or disability benefits.
The spouse or child of a public safety officer who is eligible for PSOB death or disability benefits may be eligible for PSOEA benefits. To be eligible for PSOEA benefits, a spouse must have been married to an eligible public safety officer at the time of the officer's death or injury. A child is eligible for PSOEA benefits until the age of 27. This age limit can be extended by the Attorney General in extraordinary circumstances or if there is a delay of more than one year in approving PSOB or PSOEA benefits.51 There is no deadline for filing a PSOEA claim, and benefits must be paid retroactively to the date of the public safety officer's injury.52
In addition, to be eligible for PSOEA benefits, the spouse or child must be enrolled at an eligible educational institution.53 For the purposes of PSOEA eligibility, an eligible education institution is one that meets the definition of institution of higher education as provided by Section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 196554 and that is eligible for federal student aid.55
PSOEA benefits are payable to the claimant and may be used only to defray costs associated with higher education attendance, including tuition, room, board, book and supplies, and education-related fees. The monthly PSOEA benefit amount is equal to the monthly benefit amount payable under the GI Bill Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) program, which is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for spouses and dependents of veterans with disabilities or who died as a result of service-connected conditions.56 The PSOEA benefit amounts are adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living in accordance with changes to the GI Bill DEA benefit amounts. For FY2025, the PSOEA monthly benefit for a student attending an educational institution full-time is $1,536.57 The PSOEA benefit rates are prorated for less than full-time attendance.
The maximum duration of PSOEA benefits for any person is 45 months of full-time education or a proportionate duration of part-time education. A person is ineligible for PSOEA if he or she is in default on a federal student loan. In addition, the Attorney General may discontinue PSOEA benefits for a student that fails to make satisfactory progress in his or her course of study as defined by Section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.58
A claimant who is dissatisfied with a PSOB disability benefit denial may request a reconsideration.59 There is no reconsideration offered for denials of PSOB death or PSOEA benefits.
A claimant who is dissatisfied with a PSOB death or disability benefit denial, including a disability benefit denial affirmed after reconsideration, or a PSOEA benefit denial may request a de novo hearing before a hearing officer assigned by the director of the DOJ PSOB Office.60 The determination of a hearing officer may be appealed to the director of the PSOB Office.61 The director's determination is considered the final agency determination and is not subject to any further agency administrative review or appeal. However, provided all administrative appeals remedies have been exhausted, the PSOB Office director's determination may be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.62
The PSOB statute authorizes the BJA to prescribe the maximum fee that an attorney or other representative may charge a claimant for services rendered in connection with a claim, with attorney fees generally limited to between 3% and 6% of the total benefit paid, depending on the level in the administrative appeals process the claim is approved.63 Program regulations prohibit stipulated-fee and contingency-fee arrangements for PSOB representation.64
Congress provides funding for PSOB and PSOE benefits and associated administrative expenses in the annual Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.65 Funding for PSOB death benefits and associated administrative expenses is considered mandatory spending and Congress appropriates "such sums as may be necessary" for the payment of these benefits. Funding for PSOB disability and PSOEA benefits is considered discretionary and is subject to specific congressional appropriations. Annual appropriations language grants the Attorney General the authority to transfer from any available appropriations to the DOJ the funds necessary to respond to emergent circumstances that require additional funding for PSOB disability benefits and PSOEA benefits.66
| 1. |
The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program is authorized in statute at Part L of Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. §§10281-10288). |
| 2. |
The Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) program is authorized in statute at Title 34, Sections 10301-10308, of the U.S. Code. |
| 3. |
The PSOB program website is at https://psob.bja.ojp.gov/. |
| 4. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(14). |
| 5. |
Per Title 34, Section 10282(a)(5), of the U.S. Code, PSOB benefits are available only to persons employed in a "civilian capacity." Thus, while federal law enforcement officers, including civilian law enforcement officers employed by the Department of Defense, are eligible for PSOB, members of the armed forces serving in law enforcement roles (e.g., military police, masters at arms) are not eligible for PSOB. |
| 6. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(13). |
| 7. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(9). |
| 8. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(7). Pursuant to Section 3 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61), the volunteer fire department must be a nonprofit entity that provides services without regard to any relationship, such as a subscription, that a person may have with the department. |
| 9. |
This provision was added by Section 3 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 10. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(5). |
| 11. |
34 U.S.C. §§10284(2) and (14)(B). |
| 12. |
The Stafford Act is in statute at Title 42, Section 5121 et seq., of the U.S. Code. For additional information on emergency and disaster declarations under the Stafford Act, see CRS Report R43784, FEMA's Disaster Declaration Process: A Primer. The term hazardous duty for the purposes of determining the eligibility of emergency management employees is not defined in statute or regulation. Rather, the determination of whether duty is hazardous is made by the FEMA administrator or head of the relevant state, local, or tribal emergency management agency. |
| 13. |
34 U.S.C. §§10284(14)(C) and (D). |
| 14. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(10). |
| 15. |
Employees of for-profit companies providing emergency medical services under contract to a unit of government are not eligible for PSOB benefits. For additional information, see Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Frequently Asked Questions," https://bja.ojp.gov/frequently-asked-questions#10-0. |
| 16. |
28 C.F.R. §32.3. |
| 17. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(14)(G). This provision was added by Section 3 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 18. |
28 C.F.R. §32.3. |
| 19. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(o). This expanded definition of injury was added by Section 3(a) of the Public Safety Officers Support Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-172), was effective on the date of enactment (August 16, 2022), and applies to any claims pending on that date or filed after that date. |
| 20. |
28 C.F.R. §32.3. |
| 21. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(k). |
| 22. |
34 U.S.C. §10281 note. |
| 23. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(o). This provision was added by Section 3(a) of the Public Safety Officers Support Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-172). |
| 24. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(o). This provision was added by Section 3(a) of the Public Safety Officers Support Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-172). |
| 25. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(l). This provision was added by Section 3 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 26. |
34 U.S.C. §§10284(14)(A) and (E). |
| 27. |
DOJ, Bureau of Justice Assistance, "Benefits by Year: Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program," https://bja.ojp.gov/program/psob/resources/benefits-by-year. |
| 28. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(h). |
| 29. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(i). This provision was amended by Section 2(5) of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 30. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(c). The amount of the interim payment was increased from $3,000 to $6,000 and made subject to annual adjustments by Section 2(3) of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 31. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(d). |
| 32. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(e). |
| 33. |
Section 104(a)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. §104(a)(6)]. |
| 34. |
PSOB disability benefits may reduce the amount of an officer's monthly Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). For additional information see the section "Workers' Compensation and Public Disability Benefit Offset" in CRS Report R44948, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Eligibility, Benefits, and Financing. |
| 35. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(f). |
| 36. |
5 U.S.C. §8191. For additional information on FECA, see CRS Report R42107, The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA): Workers' Compensation for Federal Employees. There is no offset for FECA benefits for federal employees. |
| 37. |
Section 12 of Act of Sept. 1, 1916, ch. 433, 39 Stat. 718. |
| 38. |
49 U.S.C. §40101 note. For additional information on the VCF, see CRS Report R45969, The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). |
| 39. |
United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013). |
| 40. |
DOJ, "Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program," 79 Federal Register 35492, June 23, 2014. |
| 41. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(6). |
| 42. |
34 U.S.C. §10281(a). |
| 43. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(4). The definition of disability for the purposes of PSOB eligibility was significantly amended by Section 3 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 44. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(4). |
| 45. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(4)(A). |
| 46. |
34 U.S.C. §10284(4)(B). |
| 47. |
28 C.F.R. §32.12. |
| 48. |
28 C.F.R. §32.22. |
| 49. |
34 U.S.C. §10288(b). This provision was amended to add the requirement that DOJ issue subpoenas before abandoning a claim by Section 4 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61). |
| 50. |
34 U.S.C. §10286. |
| 51. |
34 U.S.C. §10302(c). |
| 52. |
34 U.S.C. §10306(b). Prior to the enactment of Section 5 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act (P.L. 117-61), retroactive benefits "may" have been paid but were not required to be paid retroactively. |
| 53. |
34 U.S.C. §10307(2). |
| 54. |
20 U.S.C. §1002. |
| 55. |
34 U.S.C. §10307(3). For additional information on institutional eligibility for federal student aid, see CRS Report R43159, Eligibility for Participation in Title IV Student Financial Aid Programs. |
| 56. |
For additional information on the GI Bill Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) program, see CRS Report R42785, Veterans' Educational Assistance Programs and Benefits: A Primer. |
| 57. |
Current and historical GI Bill DEA benefit rates are available on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website, at https://www.benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/resources/benefits_resources/rate_tables.asp. |
| 58. |
34 U.S.C. §10305. Section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is codified at Title 20, Section 1091(c), of the U.S. Code. |
| 59. |
28 C.F.R. §32.28. |
| 60. |
28 C.F.R. §§32.41-32.45. Pursuant to Section 7 of the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-61), hearing officers shall, if designated by the Attorney General, be understood to be comprised within the meaning of special government employee under Title 18, Section 202, of the U.S. Code. |
| 61. |
28 C.F.R. §§32.51-32.54. |
| 62. |
34 U.S.C. §10287, and 28 C.F.R. §§32.8 and 32.55. |
| 63. |
28 C.F.R. §32.7(h). |
| 64. |
28 C.F.R. §32.7(d)(1). |
| 65. |
For additional information on this appropriations legislation, see CRS Report R47566, Overview of FY2024 Appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS). |
| 66. |
See, for example, Title II of Division B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328). |