General Purpose of the Funding:
The Adam Walsh Act (AWA) Implementation Grant Program assists jurisdictions with developing and enhancing programs designed to implement SORNA. SORNA was enacted to provide a set of comprehensive standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. “Jurisdiction” is defined in SORNA as any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the principal U.S. territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes, to the extent provided by 34 U.S.C. § 20911(10), that have elected to implement SORNA.
SORNA requires all states, the District of Columbia, the principal U.S. territories, and participating federally recognized Indian tribes to maintain a sex offender registry and sex offenders to register and maintain a current registration in each jurisdiction where the individual lives, works, or goes to school. SORNA also sets forth requirements regarding what jurisdictions must include in their sex offender registries, what information sex offenders and sex offender registries must provide, requires jurisdictions to participate in the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW.gov) and exchange interjurisdictional information, and offenders must provide advance notice when traveling internationally. For more information about SORNA’s requirements, applicants should review the National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification, the Supplemental Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification, the Supplemental Guidelines for Juvenile Registration Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and Attorney General Rules. These, and other guidance documents, are available on the SMART Office website (SMART.gov).
Applicants should refer to the Application Contents and Format section, Budget and Associated Information subsection for information on allowable and unallowable costs that may inform the development of their project design.