"Using a simple question-and-answer format, Helen Hershkoff and Stephen Loffredo provide a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the rights of the poor." "Hershkoff and Loffredo explain how poor people can use the law to obtain services necessary for basic living: income support, food assistance, health care, housing, and education. The eligibility requirements for all programs for the poor are complex and keep changing. The "welfare reform" act of August 1996 further complicates the rules and makes this ACLU guide even more essential." "Written for poor people and their advocates, as well as for anyone interested in the contemporary status of the "War on Poverty," this book also describes how poor people can use the law to participate more fully in political and community life." "Hershkoff and Loffredo also explain how poor persons can use the court system to enforce their rights. Finally, they discuss the right to vote and to run for office, encouraging poor persons and their advocates to participate more actively in national and grassroots politics."--Jacket.