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Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program: Transparency, Claims Assistance, and Program Management Improvements Needed

GAO-24-105549 Published: Sep 27, 2024. Publicly Released: Sep 27, 2024.
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Fast Facts

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits program pays public safety officers or their families if the officers are permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty.

Since 2020, some officers who died from COVID-19 or by suicide became eligible for the program—nearly doubling the number of claims received. This compounded ongoing problems with claims processing. For example, applicants didn't get important information about how to track and complete their claims.

Program officials trained staff and partners to help—but the program struggled to report on results and reach potential applicants.

We recommended ways to manage the program better.

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Highlights

What GAO Found

Officials reported taking actions to implement four changes to the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program that were enacted from 2017 through 2022; but PSOB did not meet all public reporting requirements. PSOB officials reported implementing the changes by assessing claims to determine their applicability, providing staff training, and conducting public outreach. However, in reporting, PSOB consistently omitted the total number of claims pending for more than one year, although required. It also frequently did not meet mandated reporting timelines (see figure). PSOB officials said reports were late, in part, because they reassigned staff to prioritize claims determinations over timely reporting.

Percent of Reports Posted Later than Required by the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017, October 2017-December 2023

Percent of Reports Posted Later than Required by the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017, October 2017-December 2023

Note: The Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017 required PSOB to publicly report specific measures not less than once per week and, separately, not less than once every 180 days.

Outreach by PSOB and its cooperative partners consists of presenting at conferences, conducting trainings to public safety agencies, and providing claims assistance. But several stakeholders told GAO that the program was not well known among public safety agencies and officers, with one stakeholder estimating that up to two-thirds of public safety agencies are unaware of PSOB or its benefits. Because PSOB does not target outreach to those disabled in the line of duty or measure awareness among potential applicants, it cannot assess the effectiveness of its outreach efforts. Further, PSOB's claims assistance efforts do not provide applicants enough information, such as about missing documentation, to track and complete their claims. Evaluating its claims assistance efforts would better position PSOB to assist applicants in compiling complete applications.

PSOB has not established a comprehensive performance management system with goals, quality data, and monitoring, nor has it fully documented procedures for effective performance management. For example, PSOB has not established long-term goals to determine what the program is trying to achieve. Also, the claims data PSOB collects may not be sufficiently reliable to evaluate PSOB's performance due to inconsistent data, among other things. Further, PSOB does not fully document its operational policies and procedures. Implementing a performance management system with goals, quality data, a monitoring process, and fully documented procedures will better position PSOB to manage its program and provide claims assistance to an increasing number of applicants.

Why GAO Did This Study

The PSOB program supports public safety officers killed or disabled in the line of duty by providing them or their families death, disability, and education benefits. Statutory changes have expanded eligibility leading, in part, to a near doubling to about 900 claims annually between fiscal years 2020 and 2023. PSOB has cooperative agreements with two nonprofit organizations to assist with program outreach and claims assistance.

GAO was asked to review PSOB's program management and its efforts to raise program awareness and assist claimants. This report examines PSOB's: (1) implementation of recent statutory changes; (2) efforts to increase program awareness and assist claimants; and (3) adherence to leading practices. In response to a statutory provision, GAO also reviewed PSOB claim data for post-traumatic stress disorder and related suicide claims.

GAO reviewed statutory amendments to the program since 2017 and agency documentation. Additionally, GAO interviewed agency officials and representatives from PSOB's two cooperative partners and nine public safety organizations.

Recommendations

GAO is making five recommendations for PSOB to improve the quality and timeliness of its public reports, evaluate current outreach and claims assistance efforts, implement a comprehensive performance management system, and fully document procedures. The agency concurred with the recommendations.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Sort descending Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance improve processes so all statutory reporting requirements, such as including all required performance data and meeting statutory timeframes, are met. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance evaluate and take steps to improve the effectiveness of PSOB's outreach and claims assistance efforts. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance assess the claims status information available to applicants so that it is sufficient and actionable. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance document and implement a comprehensive program performance management process. As part of this plan, the agency should:
  • Establish long-term strategic goals and short-term performance goals;
  • establish an oversight strategy for monitoring program activities to identify problems, determine corrective actions, identify lessons learned, and adopt new approaches; and
  • improve the collection and management of Public Safety Officers' Benefits program data to better ensure its accuracy, consistency, and completeness for assessing program performance. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to document procedures for carrying out PSOB claims management and administrative procedures. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Full Report

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Topics

Claims processingCooperative agreementsDisability benefitsDisability claimsPerformance managementPolicies and proceduresProgram managementProgram transparencyPublic safety officersReporting requirements