Jon Kolko and his amazing staff at the Austin Center for Design are tackling complex social issues like this via the design process. Certainly worth taking a close look at. What I find particularly interesting about AC4D is that they’re taking a realistic approach to solving these problems, some of which actually put the designer in a position to make a change while still earning a living wage.
Jon, are you out there to provide a better description of AC4D? He’s usually a very very busy guy, so if he doesn’t response, check out their site for more info (http://www.ac4d.com/)