The Justice Department is processing just over half of death, disability and education benefit claims from police and firefighters within its one-year goal — despite an infusion of cash meant to resolve backlogs and a series of reports issued over the last decade documenting inefficiencies in the process.
DOJ and public safety officials appeared before Congress on Tuesday to discuss the delays that have at times left first responders or their families waiting for years before getting payments through the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Program. Among those who described the long wait for a decision was an Iowa sheriff who said he and his four children have waited more than three years to be approved for benefits since the death of his wife. Shelly Lair-Langenbau, a volunteer firefighter and flight nurse, was killed in an air ambulance helicopter crash in 2013.
Sheriff Jay Langenbau, of Worth County, Iowa, said he initially submitted paperwork to the benefit office two months after his wife’s death, but was told the office could not process the claim until a National Transportation Safety Board report was finalized — a process that took two years.