Victim''s Assistance in Sex Offender Management

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 developing and/or enhancing sex offender registration and notification programs that support substantial implementation of 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.

Derek VanLuchene will undertake the SMART FY 12 Sex Offender Management Fellowship Program in the area of victims' issues. The SMART Office's victims' issues fellowship will identify programs and policies focused on victims of sexual violence to enhance the coordination of these programs and policies with other programming in the Department of Justice in the area of sex offender management, and to identify methods for integrating victims and victim advocacy organizations into sex offender management practices. This work will require the Victims' Issues Fellow to establish collaborative working relationships with other DOJ offices that develop and manage programs to support victims of sexual violence, in particular, the Office of Victims of Crime, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office on Violence against Women. ca/ncf