Article by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives for the Decentralisation portal
Social services are an important component of the due support of community residents and, therefore, the entire society. After the full-scale invasion began, their importance grew even more. This is associated with the fact that a huge number of people lost or left their homes because of hostilities and a lack of normal living conditions. The number of people with disabilities has increased several times. According to the Ministry of Social Policy, their number is already 3 million persons. The number of military service members and their families, as well as veterans who need and will need various social services, also increased. Therefore, the state’s task is still to continuously analyse social groups’ needs and review state policy in this area. How is the social service system regulated today, and what changes are needed for effective service provision?
The information provided is based on the interim results of the research on social services, which the Agency for Legislative Initiatives has been performing since August 2023.
The Classifier of social services and state standards: why do they exist?
The Agency for Legislative Initiatives recently analysed social service provision procedures, focusing on changes in wartime conditions. We have considered in detail which services citizens are entitled to receive in peacetime and which are stipulated in martial law conditions. At the same time, for a person to receive a social service to which they are entitled under the law, distinct procedures must be followed by social service providers at the respective level.
The Classifier of Social Services prescribes the list of social services that a person is entitled to receive. In addition to the general definition, brief description, and terms of provision, it also contains a list of social groups that are able to receive a specific service. For example, homeless persons, victims of domestic violence, persons/families affected by a fire, natural disaster, catastrophe, hostilities, terrorist act, temporary occupation, armed conflict and those who are left without housing or cannot live in their home may receive a “shelter provision” service.
On the other hand, there are State standards for social services. In fact, this is a detailed Classifier; that is, for each particular service, steps and measures of its provision shall be developed. Simply put, the State Standard is a roadmap showing all stages of social service provision, from applying for help to evaluating the result. Moreover, the cost of services depends on the State Standard since it prescribes the scope of measures stipulated within the service framework. Therefore, it seems logical that the State Standard shall exist for every social service (spoiler – it is far from being true currently).
Let’s take an example of “consulting” social service. This service is one of the most common for all social groups and stipulates consultations based on the person’s individual problems. A State Standard was developed for this service, which was approved back in 2015, that is, before the adoption of the new Law of Ukraine, “On Social Services,” in 2019. This standard contains conditions for its provision:
- Grounds for a decision to provide this social service and its termination. Consultations are mostly provided at the first request of a person in need of the service. Grounds for terminating service provision are associated with both the achievement of the goal (that is, resolution of the problem that was established at the stage of individual needs assessment) and the recipient’s refusal or termination of the agreement (external factors are also possible: the person’s death, the existence of medical contraindications for service provision, failure to fulfil agreement terms by the recipient, etc.);
- The provider shall conduct an individual assessment of the individual’s needs. Namely, the type of consultation and the term shall be determined based on this, as well as an individual plan for social service provision shall be drawn up and an agreement concluded;
- It describes what kind of premises and equipment are needed to provide service. For example, the availability of technical equipment for remote consultations (computer, Internet, etc.);
- The content of the consultation shall be indicated, and measures for its provision shall be provided. For each of the measures included in the State Standard on social consulting service, as well as duration and frequency shall be established (may vary from 30 to 150 minutes, can be provided once, as needed, or according to the schedule);
- The final stage is assessing the efficiency of service provision. That is, quantitative and qualitative indicators shall be calculated, which would certify that the service was provided with high quality.
As it is evident, the State Standard defines a service as an action with a particular result. These are official norms that help establish the service quality and correctly calculate the scope of activities within the framework of one service. Their existence is essential for several reasons. First, they guarantee community residents that specific types of services are available regardless of their financial situation, status, etc. That is, they are the marker for minimising social inequality. Second, the standards serve as a guarantee for local authorities, who are responsible for planning, organising, and providing services. The very existence of standards confirms that the services are legitimate and the funds allocated for social services are spent for their intended purpose. Third, the standards permit monitoring the quality of a certain service, as they stipulate the evaluation of the quality of service and measure quantitative and qualitative indicators. Fourth, state standards contribute to the sustainability of social services since they include both the planning and monitoring of service provision. This helps prevent potential abuse and neglect by ensuring due assistance to community residents.
What is the situation with the legal provision of social services today, and what should be done about it?
Although it seems that there are norms in the legislative field that allow the implementation and adoption of legitimate decisions, in practice, communities face several problems in implementing legislative norms. See some interim results of research on social services, as these issues need to be regulated:
1) First, it is worth noting that not all social services listed in the Classifier have State Standards. In fact, communities cannot provide some social services due to a lack of state standards; moreover, they cannot adopt programmes of measures to provide services. In addition, some social services may be provided to different social groups. For example, shelter can be provided for homeless persons, victims of domestic violence, etc. However, the State Standard for this service is not unified for all categories but exists to provide this service to homeless persons only. So, there is an urgent need to regulate and harmonise social services, which are approved in the Classifier, with the State Standards.
2) obsolescence of some state standards for social services. A part of the existing State Standards is irrelevant. This is because the new Law of Ukraine, “On Social Services,” was adopted in 2019, but most state standards have not been updated, although they still have the status of “applicable.” As a result, the provisions of standards are not harmonised with the norms of the new law. For example, the State Standard for social consulting services (and it is not the only one) states that the provider shall make the decision on the provision of social services, but the Law of Ukraine “On Social Services” establishes that “the decision to provide or refuse to provide social services at the cost of the budget funds shall be made by the structural unit on social protection of the population within the authorised bodies of the social service system. The decision to provide or refuse social services is made by a non-governmental social service provider” (Article 21). Therefore, it is necessary to review and update state standards to fulfil the provisions of the law and avoid chaos in providing services at the community level.
3) People’s needs often fail to correspond to services and measures in the standards available in the Classifier’s list. Everyone has individual needs; moreover, considering the ongoing war, people have additional needs. For example, services for veterans, military personnel and their families, vitality service, career advisor service, etc. These services are currently missing among those approved in the Classifier and do not have any standards of provision. That is why it is necessary to review and update the Classifier, that is, the list of all services, based on the people’s needs. It shall be flexible, general and adapted to the actual needs and conditions. There shall be a division into general and special services (which specify the first group), and this way, it will be possible to examine a person’s individual needs separately from general needs. For example, the awareness-raising service may be common (as it is intended for all social groups), while the career advisor service can be specialised. It concerns not only information provision but also permanent support of a person on their way to finding a job (this service is relevant for IDPs, veterans, etc.).
4) the problem of unclear description of social services in the Classifier. Although, at first glance, it seems that services are comprehensive, the description does not correspond to the practical possibilities of service provision at the community level. For example, the “shelter” service is of a financial nature to the Classifier. That is, “providing a bed with utility household services; providing hard and soft equipment, clothing, footwear, food; ensuring conditions for sanitary and hygienic activities, keeping personal hygiene; arranging the storage of personal belongings; assisting in organising interaction with other specialists, services”. Instead, in practice, this service is not only about financial support but also about psychological support for people in need since the reason for providing the service may be violence in the family or crisis situations in the person’s life.
5) the description of services in the Classifier is duplicated, which complicates service provision at the community level and, in general, decision-making by social service providers about the services needed by recipients. Duplication of service components leads to chaos in service planning, allocation of funds at the community level, and monitoring or assessment of service efficiency. For example, if the Classifier contains the “social adaptation” service, its measures are duplicated with measures of the “social integration and reintegration” service. Or measures of in-kind assistance and care at home services, which are almost identical. In practice, this makes the work of social service providers more difficult since the same measures are provided by two services delivered by different employees. Moreover, such regulation of standards leads to social employees undertaking more activities and having a bigger load. At the same time, they cannot report on the work performed.
6) a question emerges as to the services available in the Classifier, which relate to temporary rest for persons who take care of children or persons with disabilities. It is noted that this service shall be provided temporarily or as a one-time assistance. However, services for this social group shall be provided permanently, and therefore, there shall be a permanent opportunity to receive this service.
This way, aligning the Classifier with the standards is important for planning, providing, and assessing social services. Currently, the established legislative framework does not allow for fully ensuring individual needs and implementing the prescribed measures of services in practice. Moreover, as is evident, the standards for a number of social services are either obsolete or absent. Therefore, it is necessary to review the needs of residents and update the list of services right now. The standards of social services shall ensure the high quality of services and be flexible and real for their delivery by both governmental and non-governmental providers. This is also important for shaping and developing the service market, that is, when communities purchase services from other non-governmental providers.
This material was prepared with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. The material represents the opinions of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the International Renaissance Foundation.
