The poverty industry : the exploitation of America's most vulnerable citizens / Daniel L. Hatcher.

"In The Poverty Industry, Daniel L. Hatcher shows us how state governments and their private industry partners are profiting from the social safety net, turning America's most vulnerable populations into sources of revenue. The poverty industry is stealing billions in federal aid and other funds from impoverished families, abused and neglected children, and the disabled and elderly poor. As policy experts across the political spectrum debate how to best structure government assistance programs, a massive siphoning of the safety net is occurring behind the scenes.In the face of these abuses of power, Hatcher offers a road map for reforms to realign the practices of human service agencies with their intended purpose, to prevent the misuse of public taxpayer dollars, and to ensure that government aid truly gets to those in need"--Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references ( pages 259-263) and index.

Agency purpose versus agency self-interest: conflict in serving the vulnerable -- Poverty's iron triangle -- Mining foster children for revenue -- Medicaid money laundering -- Cost recovery: poverty industry taking child support from children and families -- The expanding web of the poverty industry -- Reeling in the poverty industry: restoring agency purpose, and restoring fiscal integrity to the safety net.