For Department Leaders
Protect Your People Before the Worst Happens
the Hero Family Bridge team partners with departments to close the financial gap that PSOB and standard life insurance leave behind — at no cost to your department. We care about the first responders, because when they get the call, they care for us without question.
The Gap Your Members Don't Know About
When a line-of-duty death occurs, families expect their benefits to cover them. Most of the time, they do not do so fast enough, and often not not fully.
Average PSOB wait time
The federal Public Safety Officers' Benefit can take 18 to 24 months to process. Families face mortgage payments, childcare, and daily expenses the day after the funeral. The normal wait time can be extended due to the verification processes taking longer than the norm.
PSOB payout for Act of War/Terror deaths
If a member is killed in an act of war or terrorism — including a mass casualty event — PSOB pays nothing. Standard life insurance policies carry the same exclusion.
Of LODD families report financial hardship
Despite existing benefit programs, the majority of LODD families report serious financial strain in the first year. The gap is real, documented, and preventable.
What PSOB Covers — and What It Doesn't
The Public Safety Officers' Benefit (PSOB) Act provides a one-time, tax-free federal death benefit to eligible survivors of officers killed in the line of duty. For fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026), that benefit is $461,656.
Under federal law, eligible public safety officers include sworn law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical workers employed by a governmental or qualifying nonprofit agency, and cadets or trainees who die during recognized training. While the program does include specific unsworn positions that carry specialized public safety duties, standard administrative, clerical, or support staff are excluded. Eligibility is determined through the PSOB claims process — and not every death qualifies.
PSOB may provide benefits for deaths resulting from traumatic incidents during emergency response or training, certain cardiovascular events, job-related occupational cancer, and suicide following qualifying on-duty traumatic exposure. Each claim is evaluated individually based on the facts submitted.
PSOB may also provide disability benefits — but only in cases involving catastrophic, permanent, and total disability that prevents the officer from performing any gainful work. Partial or temporary disability may not qualify.
Even when a family does qualify, the application adds lengthy and specific documentation requirements which are strict, and denials are common. Families routinely wait 18 to 24 months for a determination — with no income bridge in the meantime.
PSOB can also exclude deaths attributed to acts of war or terrorism. In an era of targeted attacks on law enforcement and mass casualty events, this is not a theoretical gap. It is a real and growing risk your members face.
The Act of War & Terror Exclusion
The coverage gap no one talks about — until it's too late.
Both PSOB and most standard life insurance policies contain an Act of War or Act of Terrorism exclusion. If a member is killed in a mass casualty attack, an ambush classified as terrorism, or any event the insurer designates as an act of war, the policy pays nothing.
This is not a hypothetical. Officers have been killed in coordinated ambushes. Firefighters have died in deliberate arson attacks. The exclusion is written into the fine print of the very policies families are counting on.
Hero Family Bridge has no exclusions. Every verified line-of-duty death — regardless of cause or classification — triggers the full member network response.
Hero Family Bridge peer to peer crowd funding pays member's families regardless of cause of Line of Duty death. No exclusions. No exceptions.
While the PSOB program does include specific unsworn positions that carry specialized public safety duties, standard administrative, clerical, or support staff are excluded. Hero Family Bridge has no such exception. A death from/in the Line of Duty is covered by the membership.
Also - our team, at the First Responder's request, will make similar levels of coverage available for family members, by request, on a consultative basis.
"When that radio goes off, your crews HAVE TO RESPOND."
"So, the way we see it: If they HAVE TO RESPOND, their policy should HAVE TO PAY."
How a Department Partnership Works
Schedule a Briefing
A Hero Family Bridge representative meets with your leadership team — in person or virtually — to walk through the program, answer questions, and review your department's current benefit structure.
Enroll Your Members
Enrollment is simple and costs your department and the member NOTHING. The Hero Family Bridge representative assists the department staff to sign up individually. If they choose risk mitigation, assists with that as well. The HFB teams handles all administration.
Offer our Risk Mitigation
HFB team members are trained to reduce risk for the member and the family. The member's family gets a PSOB checklist, the roadmap to a successful PSOB claim as the first step in risk Mitigation. We know the clauses and conditions that create exclusions — and we have access to policies that don't include them. We feel it is important for the family to have a policy available that GAURANTEES that no matter how your heart stops, there will be money for the family.
Offer Cost Reduction services
We also have access to federal tools that can reduce health coverage costs in instances where the cost of spouse and family coverage is a hardship. These savings can feel like an instant raise.
We Stand Ready
We do both paper and QR code enabled enrollments. Duplication ensures the person's membership is irrefutable. From the moment enrollment is complete, every member's family is covered. If a line-of-duty death occurs, the department gives official notice and HFB activates the network within 24 to 48 hours.
The Family Receives Support
After the community support starts to fade - the HFB accumulated funds are delivered directly to the surviving family — no formal applications, no waiting period, no bureaucracy. The community shows up for the community.
24 hrs
Network activation after verified LODD
100%
Of funds go directly to the family
No Exclusions
Every Line of Duty Death is covered
Request a Department Briefing
Fill out the form below and a Hero Family Bridge representative will contact you to schedule a meeting with your department leadership. Or request your complimentary First Responder Benefits Review today, and gain confidence your family's future is protected
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there a no cost membership requirement?
To meet the requirements of The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that requires prior consent for text messages, and the CAN-SPAM Act, all memberships are documented by HFBTeam enrollers.
Why do you ask about spouse and children?
To make sure we know who to reach out to with the collected funds, and to let people in the LODD message know how many are counting on their help.
How is there no administrative cost?
There is administrative cost. That is not taken out of the crowd funding. That is paid for through the additional services we provide.