Sandra Lee Kopels

Sandra Lee Kopels is a Professor at the School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a JD and MSW from the same institution and is a licensed attorney. Her primary affiliations include serving as Managing Editor of the School of Social Work Journal and as a board member of the Illinois Child Welfare Employee Licensure Board. She is also a National Association of Social Workers Legal Defense Fund Trustee.

Dr. Kopels' research focuses on legal and ethical challenges in social work, particularly confidentiality, duty to warn, and special education law. She has contributed to child welfare policy analysis and advocacy, with notable work on perinatal mental health legislation in Illinois and same-sex marriage legal precedents. Her teaching excellence has been repeatedly recognized by the University.

Her scholarly contributions span simulation-based learning methods in crisis intervention, interagency collaboration in child welfare, and mental health policy. She serves as a peer reviewer for major social work journals and has published widely on legal-ethical intersections in social work practice.