The urgency of scientific research on the crisis of the development of social potential of Ukrainian regions and its assessment is that today the social potential of the region is regarded by many scholars as the possibility of elements that directly determine the social activity of the population of this region and the level of its social security, the use of which is aimed at achieving social goals. the development of administrative formation, that is, the provision of the most favorable living conditions of the population as well as the extended reproduction of man as a person dysentery and as a productive force, which are formed from the potentials of individuals and the corresponding prerequisites that, in combination, give a new form of education, and are capable of providing a synergistic effect through social relations, ties, networks, processes.Today, the issues of the crisis are rather relevant, since, given the fact that crises are extremely diverse both in their causes and in their manifestations, there is no established, acceptable point of view in relation to most aspects of the given problem. The debate betweenscientists, managers and entrepreneurs suggests that they understand the concept of “crisis” differently. The variety of causes and the huge scale of losses allow us to classify the crisis as a complex multifactor phenomenon, requiring a systematic approach to its analysis and prevention.In studies of domestic and foreign scholars and practitioners, such as I.Blank, E.Z.Shershnev, F.Podderyogin, A.D.Cherniavsky, R.Acoff, I.Ansoff, P.S.Green, K.Ru-Dufor, John M.Keynes and many other issues are open to the main financial and economic crisis. However,today the urgent problem is the development of social potential both for the country as a whole and for each of its regions. From the level of knowledge of the socio-economic potential and the development of a mechanism for its effective use, scientific substantiation and improvement of the management of the socio-economic life of the country and its regions depend on it. This is primarily due to the need to study the crisis of social potential of Ukrainian regions and justify the criteria for its evaluation.The purpose of the study is to justify the criteria for assessing the crisis of the social potential of the regions of Ukraine in order to recognize the existence of a crisis or pre-crisis situation in the social sphere of the region as the most important step in crisis management.The conducted research allowed to make the following conclusions. In our view, in determining the crisis trends in the social sphere in the region it is desirable to take into account and use several approaches to assess the crisis of the social potential of Ukrainian regions. Within the framework of this study four approaches are proposed, each of which has a certain set of criteria.1. An approach based on established social norms (can determine the state of development of social potential at the time of measurements in relation to the adopted (and legally fixed) in this society, social standards).2. An approach based on the compilation of dynamic models for identifying trends in the area of social potential of the region. This approach allows us to identify positive and negative trends in the development of social potential of the region, to define a strategy for the development of social potential, to control the implementation of the development strategy and to make timely adjustments.3. An approach based on a comparison of a specific set of indicators (indexation). This approach allows us to determine the causes of negative trends in the social sphere, as well as to take into account the impact of macroeconomic indicators on the state of development of the social potential of the region.4. The socio-cultural approach is used to identify the potential of the region in relation to the development of the social potential of the region and provides an opportunity to adjust the strategy of social potential development taking into account the opportunities of the population.Thus, it can be argued that the crisis of development of the social potential of Ukrainian regions and its depth can be determined through a comprehensive study of the social potential of regions based on four basic approaches.Prospects for further research are the definition of the development of social potential of regions on the basis of cluster analysis.