Integration of disabled people and the society: effectiveness of regional social policy measures (case study of the Vologda oblast)

Building integration ties is one of the priority goals of the development of a social state. Any society has groups of people with higher risks of social exclusion than others. Disabled people worldwide are considered to be one of these vulnerable categories. The social policy aimed at ensuring equal participation of disabled people in the social life in Russia applies a program-target approach. The result of the state program “Accessible Environment” should be creating the most comfortable conditions for people with disabilities in a number of priority areas of life. Similar programs are being implemented in Russian regions including the Vologda Oblast. At the same time, the issue of measuring the social impact of their activities remains controversial. The purpose of the study is to analyze what results in terms of creating conditions for integrating people with disabilities and the society have been achieved in the Vologda Oblast through the implementation of the program “Barrier-Free Environment”. The choice of the region is due to the fact that here, the relevant target program ends in 2018 and it is important now to evaluate its success and identify priority areas for future efforts. It is shown that from the point of view of disabled people themselves, the situation with accessibility of environment is changing slowly and unevenly, and the attitude of the society to their problems remains mainly indifferent. The final part of the article presents conclusions and recommendations on improving measures aimed at creating an accessible environment in the region. The research results may be of interest to specialists in social security.