SMART Office Fiscal Year 2009 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program - Massachusetts

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) (Pub. L. 109-248, 42 U.S.C. § 16901, et seq) authorizes the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) to administer sex offender management grants. These grants assist state, local and tribal jurisdictions in implementing and/or enhancing sex offender registration and notification programs that support compliance with Title I of the AWA, known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SORNA was enacted to protect the public from convicted sex offenders and offenders against children by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration of those offenders.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will use grant funds to support the following project activities: 1) development and implementation of an electronic data exchange between the new State DNA Indexing System (SDIS) and Massachusetts' new sex offender case management applications; 2) implementation of electronic fingerprint systems at the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) Reception and Diagnostic Centers; and 3) implementation of an automated palm print identification sub-system.

ca/ncf