(For more information on treatment, see Chapter 5, 'Effectiveness of Treatment for Juveniles Who Sexually Offend,' in the Juvenile section.) Nevertheless, this chapter reviews these studies and their findings for the purpose of informing policy and practice at the federal, state and local levels. Definitive conclusions regarding the impact of registration and notification with juveniles who commit sexual offenses are difficult to make at this time, not only because so few studies have been conducted but also because the available research is generally hampered by an inability to isolate the impact of registration and notification from other interventions (e.g., specialized supervision and treatment) and the overall low rate of sexual recidivism attributed to juveniles. Unfortunately, the body of research addressing sex offender registration and notification effectiveness with juveniles remains extremely limited today. (For more information on the 'Recidivism of Juveniles Who Commit Sexual Offenses,' see Chapter 3 in the Juvenile section.) The expansion in the use of sex offender management strategies traditionally designed for adult sex offenders with juveniles who commit sexual offenses arguably has been made based on assumptions that there is a high rate of juvenile sexual offending, that juveniles who commit sexual offenses are similar to adult sex offenders and that juveniles who commit sexual offenses lack heterogeneity, are difficult to intervene with and are at high risk for recidivism (Chaffin, 2008 Letourneau & Miner, 2005). Congress included mandatory registration for juveniles ages 14 and older who are adjudicated delinquent for certain violent sexual offenses in the national sex offender registration and notification standards of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA 1). The implementation of sex offender registration and notification for juveniles varies by state, with some states choosing to add juvenile registration based on adjudication for a specified crime, while others provide for judicial discretion related to whether a juvenile should register and for how long. Many states have some kind of registration for juveniles adjudicated delinquent of sex offenses, and the vast majority require registration and public notification for juveniles transferred for trial and convicted as an adult. Per these federal laws, all 50 states have implemented registration and notification systems for adult sexual offenders, with some states also applying registration and notification to juveniles who commit sexual offenses. Community notification was subsequently added through the Megan's Law amendment to the Act in 1996. federal government first implemented a national sex offender registration law for adult sexual offenders via the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act.

California became the first state to pass a sex offender registration law in 1947, while Washington became the first state to pass community notification legislation in 1990.

Sex offender registration and notification has been used as a management strategy since the 1930s.

Pre awa offender meaning