Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program

Program goal(s) name: Death, disability, and education benefits for eligible public safety officers Program goal(s) description: Provide death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first respo

This program provides death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders, and disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty.

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Act, enacted in 1976, was designed to offer peace of mind to men and women seeking careers in public safety and to make a strong statement about the value American society places on the contributions of those who serve their communities in potentially dangerous circumstances. The 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. The benefit is determined by the date of the fatal or totally and permanently disabling injury and is adjusted annually for inflation. A table with the annually adjusted amounts is contained here: https://bja.ojp.gov/program/psob/resources/benefits-by-year

Employing agencies and/or claimants should initiate an application via the online system at www.psob.gov, or by emailing, telephoning, or writing to the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 999 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20531. Telephone: (1-888) 744-6513. Upon receiving such notification, program staff will guide the Employing Agency and Applicant through the online filing process, including basic documentation requirements.

Criteria for selecting proposals is determined as part of the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).

All final award decisions will be made by the Assistant Attorney General, unless a statute explicitly authorizes award decisions by another official or there is written delegation of authority to another official. For successful applicants, JustGrants will send a system-generated email to the Application Submitter, Authorized Representative, and Entity Administrator with information on accessing their official award package in JustGrants. The award package will include key information (such as funding amount and period of performance) as well as award conditions that must be followed. The Authorized Representative for the entity should accept or decline the award within 45 days of the notification.

The review procedure for applications is specified in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) and generally includes eligibility and responsiveness, merit, programmatic, budget, and risk reviews.

In some cases, award periods may be extended if specific criteria are met. For details, please review the discussion of no-cost extensions in the Criteria for Award Extension section of the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide available at https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/overview