Length of Service Award Programs (LOSAPS) are pension-like programs increasingly used across the United States to assist communities in recruiting, retaining and rewarding volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel. With 86% of all fire departments being volunteer fire departments, communities are increasingly seeking tools to assist them in boosting the ranks of volunteers.
The Losap is a simple tool that can be implemented cost-effectively and with minimal taxpayer expense. Conversely, if enrollment numbers drop low enough, many municipalities can be forced to convert to paid departments potentially costing states and counties millions in extra spending. Enrollment in volunteer fire departments has dipped 10% in each of the past two decades, making LOSAPS and other recruitment tools extremely important to the communities that count on the nations more than 30,000 fire departments.