FY 24 Invited to Apply- Sex Offender and Registration Notification Act (SORNA) | O BJA 2024 172237

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2024 172237

The FY 24 Invited to Apply - Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) opportunity is a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant that reallocates funds tied to the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. At its core, the program supports a comprehensive national approach to sex offender registration and public notification, with the broader goal of reducing sexual violence and exploitation and improving community safety. SORNA was created to standardize and strengthen how jurisdictions register, track, and share information about convicted sex offenders, and the SMART Office (Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking) is the Department of Justice component responsible for determining whether a jurisdiction has "substantially implemented" SORNA requirements.

This opportunity is closely connected to a long-standing financial penalty built into the Adam Walsh Act. Jurisdictions that did not substantially implement SORNA by July 27, 2011 became subject to a penalty starting in FY 2012, and that penalty continues to apply in each subsequent year until substantial implementation is achieved (see 34 U.S.C. 20927(a)). In practical terms, the penalty is assessed against a portion of the state's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funding. Specifically, BJA calculates the penalty by taking 10 percent off the state government share of the JAG allocation (the state portion is 60 percent of the total award), and it is applied only after the mandatory variable pass-through is deducted. The penalty applies to the segment of JAG funds that the state controls and can direct to local jurisdictions that are not eligible for a direct JAG award (often described as "less than 10,000 jurisdictions"), including situations where the state may provide services directly (for example, through state police) rather than issuing funds to a local agency. Importantly, the penalty does not reduce the mandatory pass-through amount that states must send to local law enforcement because states are not allowed to retain any part of that mandatory local allocation.

BJA administers the resulting SORNA reallocation funds to eligible State Administering Agencies (SAAs), but the SMART Office provides implementation support and technical assistance focused on SORNA-related improvements. A key requirement is that SAAs must pass through these reallocated funds to the designated SORNA contact agencies. Those recipient agencies are expected to carry out the specific activities described in the jurisdiction's individual reallocation request, and those activities must align with what was previously approved by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). The underlying intent is to help jurisdictions develop, enhance, or complete the programmatic and operational work needed to meet SORNA standards, rather than treating the reallocated funds as general-purpose criminal justice funding.

From an applicant and administrative standpoint, this is a state-government-focused grant (eligible applicants: state governments), categorized under law, justice, and legal services, with CFDA number 16.738. The opportunity number is O-BJA-2024-172237. The posting lists an expected 22 awards with an award ceiling of $749,115, and an application closing date of 2024-10-16 (original closing date). Overall, the program is both a compliance-driven funding mechanism and an incentive structure: it reflects the continued application of the SORNA penalty for non-implementation, while also channeling funds in a way meant to accelerate progress toward full SORNA implementation and stronger sex offender registration and notification practices. For practical guidance on implementation requirements, the notice points applicants to the SMART Office FAQ resource at https://smart.ojp.gov/faqs.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 24 Invited to Apply- Sex Offender and Registration Notification Act (SORNA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-10-16. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $749,115.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 22 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for O BJA 2024 172237

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