News

SMART Funding

The SMART Office 2012 Program Plan includes continuing support for the Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program. In addition, the SMART Office plans to release additional funding opportunities to support sex offender risk assessment research and the development and enhancement of Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) programs in jurisdictions.

FY 2012 Funding Opportunities

The SMART Office released the SMART FY 2012 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program funding announcement on January 31, 2012. This funding assists jurisdictions in offsetting the costs of implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Jurisdictions may receive up to $400,000 to further substantial implementation efforts or to maintain ongoing compliance with SORNA. The application deadline was April 3, 2012.

In partnership with the National Institute of Justice, the SMART Office will be releasing a solicitation this spring seeking applications from jurisdictions interested in implementing the Sex Offender Treatment Intervention and Progress Scale, in combination with the Static-99R (a sex offender-specific static risk assessment tool), to replicate previous study findings and to further evaluate the effectiveness of this model of risk assessment. This project is intended to inform and improve sex offender management practices by promoting the use of evidence-based tools in predicting risk of reoffense.

Additionally, the SMART Office will be releasing solicitations this spring seeking applications from jurisdictions interested in implementing the COSA program and for a training and technical assistance provider to ensure COSA implementation fidelity and proper training of community volunteers. COSA is a supervision strategy that uses community volunteers to provide support to individual sex offenders, which helps reintegrate them into communities and encourages community engagement in the reentry process.

Finally, the SMART Office will be funding three fellowship positions focusing on enhancing its capacity to provide technical assistance and support to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions regarding their responses to sexual violence and exploitation in the context of sex offender management. These new fellowships will focus on 1) victims??? issues, 2) prevention and education, and 3) practices and research in Indian Country.

SMART Office funding opportunities may be found on the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) funding page, the SMART Office website, and on Grants.gov. All applications must be submitted via Grants.gov. Interested applicants are encouraged to review the OJP funding resource document Grants 101.

FY 2011 Funding Summary

In fiscal year 2011, the SMART Office continued support for SORNA implementation by awarding $8,126,248 to 10 States, 23 tribes, and 2 territories. The office awarded $822,576 for continuing maintenance and operation of the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, and Fox Valley Technical College received $500,000 to provide technical assistance regarding SORNA implementation to those tribes that have elected to become sex offender registration jurisdictions.

The Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Training and Technical Assistance Program awarded $1.8 million to the National Judicial College to support judicial training and technical assistance regarding multidisciplinary sex offender management. Program goals include providing three regional training sessions for up to 300 judges; onsite, targeted technical assistance for 6 jurisdictions; and 10 regional training sessions for multidisciplinary personnel wanting to enhance sex offender management efforts and further court-based collaborations.

A list of 2011 grantees may be found online at the SMART Awards webpage.

The SMART Office also continued its cross-agency collaboration efforts in FY 2011. The office remained partners with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on the Youth with Sexual Behavior Problems Program and provided additional funding to the Bureau of Justice Assistance for its Second Chance Act efforts in Colorado and Vermont to demonstrate their use of the COSA approach and for the National Reentry Resource Center to enhance its capacity to assist the field in the area of sex offender reentry.

Contents
  • Requests for Reallocation of Byrne JAG Funding Penalty
    The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) set forth a penalty for jurisdictions  . . . arrow More
  • SORNA Implementation Update
    The SMART Office has received information from nearly all States and territories and the District of Columbia . . .  arrow More
  • International Tracking of Sex Offenders Working Group
    When SORNA was enacted and its final guidelines were published, the U.S. Department of Justice was tasked with . . . arrow More
  • SMART Funding
    The SMART Office will continue funding the Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program . . .  arrow More
  • New SMART Staff
    The SMART Office announces the addition of two new staff to its team: Faith A. Baker and Sharon-Beth Kristal. . . .  arrow More
  • SMART Office Launches New Initiative
    In March 2011, the SMART Office began work on SOMAPI, a project designed to assess the state of research . . .  arrow More
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