Reforming the legislation on delivery of social services through social orders in the context of building a social state in Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of certain provisions of a new version of the Law of Ukraine «On Social Services» embracing the procedure for delivery of social services through social orders in the context of building a social state in Ukraine.
 A state with a developed civil society, a high level of social protection for citizens and, in particular, support for vulnerable categories of its population and individuals finding themselves in difficult life circumstances when fighting against the global pandemic of acute respiratory disease COVID-19 and military actions, as well as appropriate provision of social services (including through social orders) in accordance with international quality standards, may be considered as a social state.
 Ukraine encounters many problems when building a social, lawful and democratic European-style state. The main problem is the world economic crisis that has not bypassed Ukraine and has been going on for a long time. Moreover, Ukraine had to face and fight another «global emergency» – the worldwide pandemic of the acute respiratory disease COVID-19. In addition, a destructive war is still raging on in Ukraine with martial law being imposed within its territory. All these factors have a negative impact on development of the Ukrainian economy and result in decreasing business activity, growth of prices, decreasing wages and number of employees, etc. leading to deterioration in the quality of life of Ukrainians. As a result, we can observe an increasing number of vulnerable categories of the Ukrainian population who find themselves in difficult life circumstances and need social protection, in particular, provision of social services through social orders.
 The Law of Ukraine «On Social Services» No. 2671-VIII dated January 17, 2019 is the main legislative act dealing with provision of social services through social orders. It does not establish a detailed procedure for providing social services through social orders, however, among others, it contains a separate article 26 covering the main aspects of the procedure for providing social services through social orders (which was absent in a previous version of the said Law), in particular, with respect to financing, deadlines of competitions related to delivery of social services, etc.