At the Illinois Department of Human Services. he serves as a member of the Family Self Sufficiency Council. the Governors Families and Children Leadership SubCabinet. and the Lt. Governors Ethnic Affairs Council. Joel has published over 30 articles on various subjects in the field of social work. social planning. voluntarism. and refugee resettlement. His most recent work is a chapter entitled "The Jewish Social Welfare Lobby in the U.S." in a twovolume work on the Jewish Polity & Civil Society. published in 2002. He has served a number of universities as a field faculty member in their graduate social work education programs.