NGOs in the Context of the Reform of Social Services in Russia

P. 248–267.

Cook L., Iarskaia-Smirnova E. R.

This chapter addresses development and change in Russia’s social policies since 2005. We focus on three areas that have undergone significant reform: policies toward people with disabilities, child welfare and outsourcing of social service delivery to SONPOs (socially oriented nonprofit organizations). In these areas, the Russian government has adopted potentially transformative changes, moving away from Soviet-era practices of state monopoly and institutionalization toward a rights-based approach featuring deinstitutionalization, social inclusion and diversity of service providers. This chapter identifies the problems and pressures that motivated these policy shifts, the purposes and functions they are designed to fulfil, and how much each has changed Russia’s social sector. Briefly, we find that changes in child welfare policy have been transformative; those in disability policy significant but more limited. Development of outsourcing has faltered, though its success varies across regions and policy areas.

Keywords: Russia, social policy, NGOs, family and children, disabilities

Publication based on the results of: The risks of social turbulence and the integrative potential of Russian society (2024)

In book

Emerging Trends in Social Policy from the South: Challenges and Innovations in Emerging Economies

Bristol: Policy Press, 2024.