To mitigate the negative effects of poverty in the country, reduce social inequality, prevent dependency, increase the effectiveness of social benefits, provide targeted assistance to various poor families, expand the market for social services and improve their quality to ensure freedom of choice for citizens who use subsidized or free social services, - all this is what social support measures are aimed at. This would be to ensure maximum protection for all socially vulnerable people of the country, those who cannot independently solve their problems.
In the plans
The effectiveness of social services for one’s own people should be much greater, but measures of social support are far from the first of the concerns of the modern society of our country. There is no clear distinction and redistribution of powers at all levels of government, and therefore no tangible improvements are observed in this area. Attracting non-governmental organizations, competitive financing with alternative sources and applying this in all types of social assistance - these are measures of social support. But all of the above is only in the plans. Much has been said that state projects to overcome poverty are being developed and will be implemented, which tentatively its level will decrease in the medium term. Other social support measures will be taken. This will help prevent poverty and prevent it from growing.
It is planned to use a variety of mechanisms in approaching certain groups of the population that are socially and economically disadvantaged. First of all, the methodology will be specified in determining the subsistence minimum and poverty criteria in accordance with the law. This means that the effective provision of social support measures will not take place soon, only after studying the issue of criteria. Subject to the reform of the social environment, the actualization of the consumer basket is possible, and therefore expert examination of consumer baskets by region will be practiced. This is exactly what is now being advised to those who came to the social welfare institutions for help: “You don’t need to buy expensive washing powder, it’s better to choose laundry soap, and brush your teeth with tooth powder, which is much cheaper than all pastes. There should be more pasta in the diet, since meat and vegetables are expensive " And these tips are sometimes the most effective provision of social support measures.
Targeted focus
First of all, we need a thorough means test. This is the basis for reforms in this area, as evidenced by the law on measures of social support. The triumph of the principle of targeted orientation of any type of social assistance, the essence of which is to satisfy the needs of the most needy, will not be soon. A gradual approach is needed to revise working benefits and to abolish them as soon as adequate compensation mechanisms appear to help the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the country's population. The Law on Social Support Measures speaks of benefits that are established in relation to various categories of workers, for example, military personnel and employees in law enforcement agencies. In the future, traditional and already established equalizing social benefits will have to be completely abandoned, but for now this process is only gaining momentum. Absolutely all aid will be issued in cash.
Nevertheless, those categories of the population that, by age or physical condition, are not able to provide for themselves will be taken into account. In such cases, measures of additional social support will be transformed into other types of assistance. Only the poorest families, whose total income is below the subsistence level, and who are in difficult situations, will receive state support. That is why the compulsory means-testing procedure requires improvement to convince that those in need of help used every opportunity to overcome a difficult life situation on their own. Only then will social support measures for certain categories of citizens become effective. A contract system will be gradually introduced , which provides for reciprocal obligations on the part of the client when receiving assistance: community service, employment, social and psychological rehabilitation, and the like.
The tasks of power structures
The authorities must necessarily distinguish between powers, responsibilities and rights in this area between the state power of the Russian Federation, its subjects and local self-government. The federal level involves the establishment of general conditions, legal and organizational foundations on which social support measures are applied. Social services are based on the regulatory legal framework, the formation of which will be the responsibility of the federal authorities. They will determine the parameters of existing poverty and the mechanisms that can overcome it. Their prerogative is the development of only targeted procedures for the provision of state aid. The federal authorities will also exercise control at all stages of support, verify the legality of decisions that are made at regional levels.
But specific measures of social support for citizens, the size and types of assistance provided, additional conditions for receiving it will be determined at the regional level. Local self-government will directly provide this assistance, because by its nature it is as close as possible to the population. The main thing is to solve the problem of determining the needs of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation regarding the financing of social assistance, and at the same time take into account the need to align subsidies between budgets. Despite all of the above, state social assistance will always be provided from the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Categories of poor citizens
In order to strengthen measures of social support for children and increase state assistance to citizens, the payment of a monthly allowance will be provided on time and in full. The number of people who are currently in a difficult situation and need immediate decisions on measures of social support for certain segments of the population has increased significantly in recent years. First of all, these are street and street children, the elderly, people without a place of residence, the military who took part in the hostilities, and the disabled. Therefore, the goal of state policy is to create conditions for ensuring equal opportunities for them to realize economic, civil, political freedoms and rights, which are provided for by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and current legislation.
However, will this good goal ever be achieved? Judging by the ever-increasing wave of bureaucracy, which swept all the structures involved in social assistance, it is unlikely soon. First of all, it is necessary to increase the social status of such people, to raise the level of their material support. This applies even to military personnel, veterans of the RF Armed Forces. Today, measures of social support for large families are very weak. They need much greater medical professional assistance and much higher cash benefits. It is time for the country to seriously think about measures of social support for the family, and, of course, not only large families, but it, first of all.
For disabled people
In the medium term, the priority areas of social assistance will be: rehabilitation of disabled people, for which it is planned to improve medical examination services; the production of means to facilitate life and work - prosthetic, orthopedic and other auxiliary technical products, improving their quality and expanding the range; accessibility of structures and buildings for the disabled, as well as transport, information, communications and the like. To accomplish these tasks, the social sphere must consider many issues: expand the market and improve the quality of services that are now being provided, decentralize the social service system and develop the non-governmental sector.
State plans include the development of programs of competitive and targeted mechanisms for financing the activities of social services. In order to provide social services, persons with disabilities should have equal access to government funding of not only state, but also non-state institutions and organizations. It is necessary to develop general requirements for the activities of private, municipal, state and other institutions that provide different types of social services, so that these requirements meet state service standards, and a quality assessment system works when implementing social programs.
What is social support?
The concept of social support appeared after the adoption of Federal Law 122 in August 2004, where changes to legislative acts of the Russian Federation were identified. The law and its amendments concerned the principles of organizing executive and representative bodies of power in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Social support measures are what were previously called benefits, but these terms are understood to mean the same thing: when certain categories of the population receive certain benefits or services without payment or with partial payment. Most of these benefits were not fixed financially, basically it was only declared (for example, WWII veterans - without waiting in line).
Social support measures are full compliance with the norms of the law and a guarantee of the state, they are assigned to special categories of citizens either for merit or for specific needs, provide them both in kind and in cash. Social support is provided periodically either in monthly cash payments, or as necessary in kind. Assistance is established both indefinitely and for a certain period in order to partially offset the additional costs or maintain the health of citizens. The law determines the amount of social support in a fixed amount.
Federal beneficiaries
Since social support is now an independent type of social security, which consists in providing special categories of citizens with periodic payments in cash or in kind, all people entitled to social support were divided into two groups.
The first group is federal beneficiaries:
- Heroes of the USSR or Russia, social. labor;
- full holders of the Order of Glory and Labor Glory;
- former prisoners of fascism - war invalids, military personnel who did not serve in the army, and also worked at military facilities during the war (Leningrad blockaders who were participants in hostilities, veterans);
- family members of deceased and deceased war veterans;
- disabled people;
- people affected by radiation;
- honorary donors.
Regional beneficiaries
The second group - regional beneficiaries. These are home front workers and labor veterans, people who suffered from reprisals and were rehabilitated. Federal beneficiaries receive social support in the form of monthly cash payments, a set of in-kind benefits and social services. The liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are also provided with social support measures. These are monthly payments as compensation for health damage and monthly monetary compensation for the purchase of goods.
If a citizen - the liquidator of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster has the right to two or more monthly payments, then he can receive only one - at his option. Here, the exception is only one who has been exposed to radiation in Chernobyl or at the Semipalatinsk test site. The district coefficient is not taken into account.
Social services
The set of social services includes the following:
- For children with disabilities: according to prescriptions, the provision of all necessary medicines, medical products, medical nutrition.
- With medical indications, vouchers for sanatorium and resort treatment are provided for the prevention of diseases: citizens - 18 days, children with disabilities - 21 days, people with disabilities with the consequences of brain or spinal cord injuries - from 24 to 42 days.
- Free travel by intercity railway and suburban transport to the place of treatment and back.
Social services are provided to citizens in the period of one calendar year - from the date when a citizen acquired the right to receive social services and inclusively until December 31 of the same year. You can refuse to provide social services (or any separate service) by writing an application to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation (to the territorial office).
Federal register
In order to realize the rights of citizens to receive social support, including monthly payments, and to ensure high-quality and efficient spending of funds allocated for these purposes, the Federal Register of those persons who are entitled to receive state social assistance is filled out. This register contains basic information about citizens, including the following:
- Pension insurance personal account number.
- Name, patronymic, last name and required last name given at birth.
- Date of Birth.
- Floor.
- Address of residence, including the actual one.
- The number and series of the passport or other identification document with the date of issue of this document.
- Date of inclusion of a citizen in the Federal Register of eligible to receive state social assistance.
- Category.
- Details of the document, which confirms the classification of this citizen in this category.
- Other information.