Survivors Wait Years for Federal Death Benefits
Every year, hundreds of families wait a year or more to receive death benefits following the loss of their spouse or other family member in the line of duty. In 1976, the government introduced the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program. This program provides benefits to individuals and/or family members following death or debilitating injury that occurred in the line of duty.
According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance website, the program reviews some 900 claims each year for public servants who were “catastrophically disabled” or killed while on duty. The total benefit for death and disabilities is currently $339,210, in addition to a one-month stipend of $1,018.
What Did the Investigation Reveal?
USA Today conducted an investigation of roughly 1500 claims filed since 2008 and discovered that the program is full of delays. These delays come in spite of millions of dollars spend on outside audits and efforts by the program to hire more help to reduce delays in processing claims. The latest numbers (from last month) indicated that roughly 750 families were still waiting for the BJA to process their claims.
The investigation by USA Today included access to tracking records from the Justice Department. Findings included data from over 5 years and nearly 1,500 claims.
Tracking records showed that the PSOB spent an average of 391 days processing and reaching a decision on federal employee claims. This average falls short of the agency’s goal of a one-year maximum turnaround time. Further study of the fed benefits documents showed that 42 percent of cases take more than a year, while 100 families waited over two years and another 25 families waited three or more years for a decision.
The study also revealed that 71 percent of cases listed as pending earlier this spring had already been waiting for over a year, Some 200 families had been waiting for two years and about 50 families had been waiting four or more years for a benefit decision.
Family Member Frustration
Rightfully frustrated, loved ones of the deceased (or disabled) federal employees did not receive much insight as to why the wait has been so long. The agency claimed that the cases are “complex” and suffer from family members or agencies failing to provide enough documentation.
Family members are not the only parties expressing frustration at the delays. Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, has routinely pushed the government to proceed with investigations to determine why the program is taking so long to help families. Grassley told reporters, “Excuses at this point don’t meet the smell test. The families of these fallen officers deserve timely answers. And… the office doesn’t have a legitimate answer for why it allows so many of these cases to languish.”
Research shows that the Justice Department has known about the delay in these federal benefits for more than a decade. Despite a directive from U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft in 2004, to make decisions within 90 days, the PSOB has never even come anywhere near that goal.
While the agency claims that improvements are coming and that they have changed claim instructions to ensure completion of appropriate documents, waiting families say they do not expect a resolution to happen quickly.
