Philip Alston produced a report on poverty in America that articulates problematic governmental policies including: Undermining of democracy,  Shortcomings in basic social protection, Reliance on criminalization to conceal the underlying poverty problem,
Persistent discrimination and poverty, Confused and counterproductive drug policies, and Environmental pollution.  It sets forth concrete conclusions, underscoring “Punishing and imprisoning the poor is the distinctively American response to poverty in the twenty-first century. Workers who cannot pay their debts, those who cannot afford private probation services, minorities targeted for traffic infractions, the homeless, the mentally ill, fathers who cannot pay child support and many others are all locked up. Mass incarceration is used to make social problems temporarily invisible and to create the mirage of something having been done.”  The report is available here