First, some facts on poverty:

• The United States has the highest poverty rate of the six top industrialized countries.
• The infant mortality rate of the U.S.(7.2 per 1000 births in 1999) is the highest of the 12 top industrialized countries.
• One in six children were poor in 1999 in the U.S.

Homelessness: 12% are single females and 51% are single males, 40% of the homeless are women with children: over 100,000 children are homeless. 

• Unemployment and/or underpaid
• Cuts in welfare
• Evictions to allow apartment upgrading and urban renewal
• Lack of affordable housing  and abolition of rent controls
• Inadequate treatment and community supports for people with mental illnesses
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Homeless population includes: people with AIDS or other serious illnesses, Veterans who suffer from war-related problems, young adults who have aged out of the foster-care system, people without a high-school education or job-training for today's highly technological jobs, battered women, and teenage runaways .

Most of the social response to homelessness has been to treat the surface problems (providing shelter and food0 rather than the underlying causes.

History to today's welfare programs began in the 1930's during the Great Depression, when the public and  politicians saw the need for 'safety nets' for people hurt by economic and historic changes over which they had no control. This is when the Social Security Act (1935) was passed and the massive social welfare programs had their beginnings. Since that time many of the programs begun then have been altered beyond recognition or dropped but many live on relatively unchanged.
THE ONES THAT BENEFIT THE MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASSES ARE THE LEAST CHANGED AS THEY HAVE THE BACKING OF THE POLITICAL WILL.

The text describes a number of program categories, giving you a sense of the 'patchwork quilt' of programs available (but remeber, unlike a 'quilt', this one has holes, areas where services are needed but do not exist.)

 Know which is which and analyze in terms of 1) universal vs means-tested, 2) whether or not an entitlement program, 3) what the criteria are for eligibility, 4) time limits

• AFDC (Aid to Families With Dependent Children), which is now TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families).
• GA (General Assistance) income supports for individuals who do not qualify for AFDC/TANF.
• Social Security (SS) which is 'earned' by working (in most jobs but not all) and paid for by payroll taxes.
• SSI  which is for people who can't work due to age or infirmity  but who have not worked/contributed to payroll taxes.
• SSDI which is for people who have worked/contributed but who are disabled. The amount given is higher than for those who receive SSI.
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• WIC (nursing or pregnant Women, Infants and Children up to age 5) a nutrition program to ensure a healthy diet at the beginning of life
• Food Stamps, a program that supports food prices for farmers by providing free or inexpensive food to poor people
• School Lunch and (sometimes) breakfast programs, again to use government surplus food but also to help feed (poor) children
• Unemployment Insurance: for anyone who loses a job. Compensates sfor part of the lost income for a limited time period and the length of that period is changed according to the labor market's needs.
• Earned Income Tax Credits: a supplement to working people who earn low wages, an incentive to work but one that cuts off above a certain income level
• Personal Social Services: all other social services not included in government programs for education, health, income maintenance, housing or employment. Includes shelters for the homeless, or for victims of domestic violence,  veterans' programs, etc.
• Vital Service Delivery Programs : services for the aged, came about as the result of the Older Americans Act of 1965, includes housing supports, senior centers, Meal-On-wheels, transportation for seniors, etc.
• Services for pregnant and parenting teens
• Mental Health Services
• Medical Social Work
• Services for people with developmental disabilities (Mental Retardation, defined as being limiting the individual's functioning in a range of self-care activities and diagnosed in childhood.) This is the one 'quilt' of coordinated services that covers a person's needs from cradle to grave IF NEEDED, a good example of the kind of services the government would provide if all the other causes of poverty were not seen as the individual's 'fault'.