By Michael Silver, on July 16, 2014

A lot of summer projects are coming together. Cases my interns have been working on are starting to go to trial. Then; yesterday, we got the email that our research project has made it through the first screening process and moving on to the second! This second approval process will take anywhere from 1-3 months before we find out if we are allowed to get the data we are requesting from the agency. I’m not sure when I finish blogging, but I doubt the blogosphere will get to hear the results of our IRB process.

In other news, our lethality assessment committee is meeting in person Friday in Durham! At our last video/conference call, we decided to review a range of lethality assessments currently in use and to meet and discuss the best way to create our ‘best practice’ form.

It’s amazing how hard and focused everyone on the committee has been when budget cuts threaten the jobs of many on the committee. In government/non-profit work, fiscal cycles are stressful on everyone. Will projects and staff positions continue to be funded? Will agencies and commissions be relocated or dissolved?

With all the advocacy and work that consumes the non-profit and government agency work this time of year, the members of our committee continue to show their dedication as public servants to their jobs and the issues they are passionate about. It is really exciting to be able to work with such a great group of people and I can’t wait until Friday!