The Department of Justice’s SMART Office has opened the Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program, with $15 million for state and Tribal governments to build or strengthen their sex offender registration and notification programs under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Only state governments and federally recognized Tribal governments that are eligible to carry out SORNA and have chosen to do so can apply. The first deadline is November 25, so jurisdictions that want a share of the funding should start preparing now.
The basics
The program will make about 50 awards of up to $400,000 each from a $15 million pool.
- Award period: 36 months, starting January 1, 2027
- Match: none required
- Applications: one per applicant; if more than one is submitted, only the most recent validated version is reviewed
- Partners: one entity applies, and partners are listed as subrecipients
Key dates
There are two deadlines
| Deadline | What to submit | Where |
| Nov 25, 11:59 p.m. ET | SF-424 form | Grants.gov |
| Dec 9, 8:59 p.m. ET | Full application | JustGrants |
What the grant can fund
Funding can go to seven areas of SORNA work:
- Registry search capacity: improving how quickly systems respond to searches from the national sex offender website (NSOPW.gov), through bandwidth enhancements, database optimization, architectural changes, and web services improvements.
- Information collection and sharing: improving how law enforcement and other agencies collect sex offender information, including biometric data, and share it within and between jurisdictions and with federal agencies.
- Registration verification: stronger verification strategies, including working with other jurisdictions and agencies on absconder investigations.
- International travel notice: implementing and enforcing SORNA’s 21-day advance notice requirement for international travel.
- Audit findings: addressing the most recent FBI CJIS National Sex Offender Registry audit findings on accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and verification of records, including fixing programming issues in how data is sent to the national registry.
- Collaboration: working with Tribes, victim services agencies, courts, probation offices, schools, and other entities. Applications involving Tribal organizations must include supporting documentation describing how the collaboration will work.
- Training: training for law enforcement and criminal justice personnel who handle registration, monitoring, community notification, or failure-to-register and absconder investigations, including officer safety training.
How applications are scored
The proposal is a questionnaire in JustGrants, and each answer is limited to two paragraphs. Project design carries the most weight, followed by capabilities and experience.
| Criterion | Weight |
| Project design | 35% |
| Capabilities and experience | 30% |
| Project goals | 15% |
| Budget | 15% |
| Description of the need | 5% |
Applicants must also tailor the narrative to where they stand on SORNA. Jurisdictions that have not yet implemented SORNA must describe the steps they have taken to assess gaps and how the project moves them toward substantial implementation. Those that have must describe how the project sustains and enhances their program.
Priorities and requirements
General agency priorities, such as protecting children and combatting violent crime, may receive priority consideration. This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) adds one more: whether a jurisdiction has substantially implemented SORNA.
Applicants should plan for these requirements:
- A memorandum of understanding (MOU) or letter of intent with each partner
- For state and territory applicants with active Byrne JAG SORNA reallocation funding, an explanation of how the project complements that work and avoids duplicating it
- Prompt responses to SMART Office requests for documentation of SORNA implementation efforts
Need Assistance Applying
If you have additional questions about this grant, please reach out to the GrantFinder Team to assist you with your application.Grant Writing Success with Our Experts
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