Toward a critique of the social services market

The study presents the main controversial issues relating to the risks and negative consequences of the development of the social services market, accompanied by a compilation of expert critical assessments of foreign and Russian researchers, statistical data of the Federal State Statistics Service, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, and the Analytical Center NAFI, as well as an analysis of some cases of harm caused to recipients of social services in Russia in the non-governmental sector. In 1996-2002 the Russian Federation had experience of introducing a procedure for licensing activities in social services, which the state plans to partially recreate in the near future, but so far only in relation to stationary forms of providing social services, which is necessary to regulate this segment of a somewhat spontaneously developing market. Based on foreign experience in using digital technologies in the model of public control over specialists carrying out professional activities in the field of health and care, the author of the article suggests an idea of creating a single register of social services in the form of a convenient online service that would allow citizens not only to select a specialist or a social services establishment (regardless of its organizational and legal form, the presence or absence of the status of the provider) but also to view information about each of these, evaluate the quality of their work, and file complaints to the authorized state body about poorly provided services. If the Russian state social policy continues to pursue the course toward liberalization and increase in the share of non-state providers of social services, there is a risk of gradual optimization of the system of governmental social services and the closure of institutions that are costly for the budget, though being of great value to society due to their resource base and highly qualified teams of specialists. The commodification of social services can be an obstacle to improving their quality and accessibility and contribute to the growth of social inequality.