The legal services program helps bridge the gap between constitutional rights and social realities. Poor people are frequently unable to secure the little which is rightfully theirs because they cannot afford legal assistance. The celebrated and criticized "California rural legal assistance" program. which has managed to step on a lot of privileged toes in the process of defending the rights of migrant farm workers. is another example of how the poverty program is damned if it does and damned if it does not. The achievements of VISTA in bringing the talents of Americans from all social backgrounds to bear in the fight against poverty are also noteworthy. The Neighborhood Youth Corps has provided inschool and outofschool job opportunities-.318.829 poor youths have benefited.