Creative Research Medal

William Quinn, a child and family development professor, directs the Family Solutions Program. The non-profit organization, Families4Change, Inc., draws on UGA research findings to help juvenile first-offenders choose a different life path. Of the 750 program graduates, only 24 percent have been charged a second time, compared with 59 percent of a control group who did not participate.

The UGA-developed program is currently in use throughout Georgia, as well as states such as Illinois, Kansas and Texas, and is effective for males, females, blacks, whites and pre-teens through older teens. Quinn and several colleagues received a multimillion-dollar grant from the CDC to implement this and other programs to reduce middle school violence.