Law Enforcement Resources - Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program

About the Program

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program provides benefits to public safety officers (or eligible survivors in the event of death) who have been killed or permanently and totally disabled by a catastrophic personal injury sustained in the line of duty. The PSOB Program provides death benefits in the form of a one-time financial payment 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 or certain eligible heart attacks or strokes. It also provides disability benefits for public safety officers who have been permanently and totally disabled by a catastrophic injury sustained in the line of duty if that injury permanently prevents the officer from performing any gainful work. The amount of the current PSOB benefit is $315,746 for eligible deaths that occured on or after October 1, 2008.

The PSOB Program also includes the Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) Act, which provides financial assistance for higher education for the spouses and children of federal, state, and local public safety officers who have been permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty. Educational assistance through the PSOEA Program is only available to the spouse or children of a public safety officer after the PSOB death or disability claim process has been completed and benefits have been awarded. The educational assistance may be used to defray relevant expenses, including tuition and fees, room and board, books, supplies, and other education-related costs.


Publications

Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance Program Fact Sheet
Bureau of Justice Assistance, October 2005

Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance, July 2001