This course will focus on the issues surrounding the legal regulation of poverty and poor people. We will survey the realities of existence for people living in poverty and the historical legacies regarding race and gender which have influenced development of anti-poverty programs. Next, we will investigate the structural changes in welfare provision, especially devolution of responsibility from the national government to state and local governments and privatization. We will then examine the primary constitutional precedents and how they are being interpreted in the contemporary era of welfare reform. Much of our attention will concentrate on the two primary focal points in welfare reform: the family (including regulation of sexuality, child support, child care, child protection, and domestic violence); and work (including educational support, workfare, and the interaction between welfare and broader labor market issues such as employment discrimination, economic development). Students will be graded primarily on the basis of a research paper which is expected to be of publishable quality.