In this segment from TX Public Radio, Omar Parbhoo, CEO of Innovating for the Public Good: R&D for Democracy (IFPG), discusses the enormous obstacles people are facing to access public programs.

A new report from IFPG shows how millions of Americans now face greater risk of losing SNAP, TANF and Medicaid coverage — not because they’re ineligible — but because they can’t keep up with the red tape. Every new hoop increases the odds of people falling through the cracks.

The result is that families in need are punished with delays, denials and denigration. The process doesn’t just harm, it humiliates. This system deepens hardship, erodes trust in government and turns basic support into a source of shame.