The War On Poverty: Looking Back and Looking Forward

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center is presenting a public lecture featuring two outstanding speakers: John Bouman and Dan Lesser.

John Bouman, president of the Shriver Center, was a leader in the design and implementation of positive aspects of Illinois’ new welfare law in 1997, and he spearheaded the statewide efforts in Illinois to create both the FamilyCare program, which provides health care insurance for up to up to 400,000 working poor parents of minor children, and All Kids, the first state plan to extend health coverage to every child.

Dan Lesser has been with the Shriver Center since 1996 and currently serves as its Director of Economic Justice. He specializes in public benefits issues, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance program, the child care assistance program, food and nutrition programs, and tax and budget issues. Dan also manages the Shriver Center’s annual Poverty Scorecard, which grades the performance of every Member of Congress on poverty-related issues.