Family Solutions for Youth at Risk

William H. Quinn is in the Department of Child and Family Development at the University of Georgia, Athens.

"In a time where evidence-based practice models are leading the way as the treatments of choice for at-risk troubled youth, William H. Quinn offers us an innovative and highly effective treatment approach for juvenile offenders and other serious youth behavioral difficulties. What is most unique about Quinn's Family Solutions Program is its multiple family group format, which he clearly demonstrates through many case examples and solid research, provides families with a strong sense of community, multiple strengths and resources to draw from for support, and can produce rapid changes on individual, family system, and larger systems levels. This book is a timely and valuable contribution to the family therapy literature." -- Matthew D. Selekman, MSW, Co-Director of Partners for Collaborative Solutions"A breakthrough on family and community treatment of youth at risk. This book takes the reader inside a model that is effective, collaborative, and respectful of what families can offer one another in preventing more serious problems in the future. I loved learning the nitty-gritties about how this model works in the real world, including early mistakes and current challenges in using this novel approach--a testament to Bill Quinn's honesty and transparency. I was inspired from start to finish." -- William J. Doherty, Ph.D, is Professor of Family Social Science and Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota, and a Past President of the National Council on Family Relations"This book is first and foremost a manual with a great deal of information about the Family Solutions Program, a 10-session, multiple-family group intervention for first-time young offenders and their families begun in Athens, Georgia, in 1991. Quinn provides sufficient detail to make the program understandable, with descriptions of 10 full sessions, case illustrations, even an entire chapter devoted to reviewing the research on the program's effectiveness. This book should give any family therapist more than enough information to help them convince local funders and the courts to try this approach to preventing recidivism among young offenders.Its message is all the easier to embrace because it is well-written. I appreciated Quinn's use of stories and many and varied case illustrations. His style will appeal to practitioners. It is accessible and full of practice-based evidence to help set the tone for interventions." -- Michael Ungar, PhD, RMFT/ Dalhousie University School of Social Work

• Table of ContentsPreface1. Why We Need New Ideas2. Adding Balance: Expanding Relational, Family, and Community Efficacy of Human Service Delivery3. A Family Perspective4. The Development of the Family Solutions5. Components of the Family Solutions Program6. The Central Component: Group Process7. Effectiveness of the Family Solutions Program8. Institutional Change.