Justice Department Announces $7.3 Million in Awards, Supports Adam Walsh Act, Sex Offender Management

Justice Department Announces $7.3 Million in Awards, Supports Adam Walsh Act,
Sex Offender Management

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of
Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) today announced more than
$7.3 million in Fiscal Year 2009 grant assistance for state, local, and tribal
governments for use in implementing, training, and maintaining and enhancing
sex offender programs throughout the United States.

These grants, administered by OJP's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing,
Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART), break down into
three areas of funding: Adam Walsh Act (Title I) implementation, Comprehensive
Approaches to Sex Offender Management (CASOM) support, and Dru Sjodin National
Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) operation.

More than $4.6 million will be used to develop or enhance sex offender
registration programs; improve law enforcement and other justice agency
information sharing as it relates to sex offender registration and
notification; and implement other efforts aimed at furthering the objectives
of Title I of the Adam Walsh Act, the Sex Offender Registration and
Notification Act (SORNA).

The Adam Walsh Act was signed into law on July 27, 2006 and is designed to
protect children and adults from sexual exploitation and violent crime. The
Act also aims to prevent child abuse and child pornography, promote Internet
safety, and honor the memory of Adam Walsh and other crime victims. SORNA was
enacted to protect the public from convicted sex offenders and offenders
against children by establishing a comprehensive national system for the
registration and notification to the public of those offenders.

The SMART Office will also oversee the Comprehensive Approaches to Sex
Offender Management (CASOM) program. More than $2.7 million will assist state,
local, and tribal jurisdictions in assessing and improving their approaches to
supervising, monitoring, and treating adult and/or juvenile sex offenders in
the community.

In addition to the $7.3 million, another $985,000 will help maintain, operate
and enhance the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) and
support the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System. NSOPW links to
state, territory, and tribal sex offender public websites and allows the
public to search for registered sex offenders on a national scale. With close
to 20 million users and counting, NSOPW is an invaluable resource to the
public.

The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Acting Assistant Attorney General
Mary Lou Leary, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's
capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims.
OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau
of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of
Crime. Additionally, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity
Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy, and the
Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and
Tracking (SMART). More information can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

SMART10005

SOURCE Office of Justice Programs - U.S. Department of Justice

Kara McCarthy of the Office of Justice Programs - U.S. Department of Justice,
+1-202-307-1241