Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2024, $69,919)
The Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) will apply for the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) reallocation funding for federal fiscal year 2024 (FFY24). Reallocation funding received for prior years has allowed the DPS to make progress supporting the national initiative to make records more readily available to other jurisdictions. Additionally, DPS has installed digital storage systems capable of handling the volume of sex offender registration (SOR) records and developed a software package to support quick, accurate, and easily retrievable digital records.
The DPS was awarded funds through the FFY22 Support for Adam Walsh Act Implementation Grant Program to replace the current SOR case management system. The DPS contracted with Computer Projects of Illinois (CPI) for the new SOR module. The DPS is requesting reallocation funding for travel costs for SOR staff to attend an annual conference hosted by CPI for their clients to receive individualized and group training on the SOR application and to learn from other states using it. The DPS is also requesting funding for instate travel for SOR staff to provide training to partner agencies on SOR requirements, documentation, and processing.
The DPS continues to work to bring the Alaska SOR program into SORNA compliance. The DPS is seeking funding for contracted programming and project management support to maintain the existing SOR case management system and to support transition to the CPI SOR case management system.
The DPS is requesting funding for lease costs for a folder inserter device used to send courtesy reminders and other relevant documents/notifications to registrants. The device increases efficiencies by automating the process of printing the documents, inserting them into envelopes ready for mailing, and freeing staff time to process registrations and manage the SOR office.
The DPS is requesting funding for 100 hours of overtime for special projects to conduct internal record audits, data quality reviews, or other projects to improve the completeness and accuracy of registrations and records in the SOR repository. This will also be used during periods of short staffing to mitigate backlogs resulting from competing projects. With the SOR case management application replacement project scheduled through January 2026, staff will be required to functionally test the new application and participate in various discovery meetings and user acceptance testing which reduces the time spent to process registrations.