Jim Raines considers himself an "accidental academic with the heart of a practitioner." He has over 20 peer-reviewed articles focusing mainly on school social work and three books published by Oxford University Press. He is a past President of the Illinois Association of School Social Workers (2005-2006) and a past President of the Midwest School Social Work Council (2010-2012). He was keynote speaker for the 4th International School Social Work Conference in Auckland, New Zealand in 2009.