Officials call for investigation into distribution of Hometown Heroes benefits

WASHINGTON — Fire service leaders are demanding a probe into the delivery of benefits to the families of fallen firefighters.

On Wednesday, members of the IAFC and the NVFC were joined by a bipartisan showing of members from Congress and the Senate for a press conference on Capitol Hill. They called for an investigation into the implementation of the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act by the Department of Justice.

The act, which was passed in 2003, currently has a 3 percent acceptance rate for applicants. More than 260 applications have been submitted and just six of those have been approved. Forty-eight families have had their claims denied.

President Chief Jim Harmes called on Congress to look into the implementation of the act by the Department of Justice.
He said the three questions that need to be answered are:

• Why has the DOJ taken so long to decide these claims and left the families of America’s fallen heroes without the benefits granted to them by law?
• Why is there currently a three percent acceptance rate in a program designed to help the families of fallen first responders?
• What steps must be taken to knock down bureaucratic hurdles, lengthy delays and other obstacles that are currently preventing these families from receiving their rightful benefits?

Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) said the bureaucratic delays added to the heartache for families of losing a loved one.

"This adds uncertainty and financial hardship to what is already a difficult and tragic situation," he added.

More than 30 years ago, Congress created the Public Safety Officer Benefit Program to provide the families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty with a one-time financial benefit of close to $300,000. The NVFC said that families who have applied for the slow-moving Home Town Heroes benefit should be allowed to apply for the Public Safety Officer's program.

"From the language of the law to the clearly expressed intent of Congress, (the Department of Justice) should be paying benefits in cases where a public safety officer died from heart attack or stroke within 24 hours of participating in emergency response," said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. "The Department of Justice needs to start making these payments today, and Congress should investigate why three and a half years after passage of the law so few payments have been made and so many denials and pending cases exist."

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the responders are not being held at a high enough priority by those on Capitol Hill.

"First responders may not be well enough connected to the powers that be in the Administration," Leahy said, "but first responders are directly connected by lifelines to their communities, and that should count for more."

The Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act aimed to correct a technicality in the law that made it difficult for families of those lost in the line of duty by a heart attack or stroke to claim the benefit.

"The families of first responders make sacrifices as their loved ones put their lives on the line and make life-and-death decisions every day," said Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA), the former Sheriff of King County, Wash."