Discuss the status of the poor, homeless and AIDS victims during the 1980’s. How did the government respond to the needs of each of these groups?...

First of all, please realize that this is a partisan
issue.  Democrats say that Reagan treated these three groups very poorly during his time
in office.  Republicans would argue that his policies were
appropriate.

In general, however, I think it is fair to say
that Reagan cut funding for programs that helped the poor in the short term.  I think it
is also fair to say that he helped cause more homelessness, for example, by reducing
federal funding to mental hospitals.

You can see a
discussion of this at the following link.  Please realize that this is not meant to be
an objective disucssion -- it is written by a homeless
advocate.

The AIDS link seems more objective to
me.