Voice of Parents, a civic organization led by Oksana Doroshenko, has been a driver of inclusive change in the Chernihiv community for many years. The organization provides two essential and life-critical services — day care and transportation — for children and young people with disabilities. Thanks to the team's persistence, families receive consistent support.
It all started in 2017, when the organization began taking part in the annual «Participatory Budget» competition. Annual funding reached up to UAH 1,500,000. The full process from submission to actually receiving the money took about 6-7 months. The distinctive challenge of this mechanism was that it required not just writing a project, but running a strong advocacy campaign to gather the required number of votes from community residents.
In September-December 2025, however, the organization moved to a new level and took part in the state social procurement procedure for day-care services. It took two months from preparing and submitting the tender proposal to the result — then the team waited another month for payment against the completed-services acts.
According to Executive Director Liubov Karasyova, Voice of Parents succeeded in its projects and in fulfilling the state social order thanks to years of community trust, an impeccable reputation in Chernihiv, and a high level of team expertise. A major role was also played by the specialists' ability to prepare tender proposals quickly and to a high standard, meeting the requirements of state programs and competitive procedures.
Challenges: licensing, staffing and cash-flow gap
Even so, the shift to state social procurement exposed serious financial and administrative challenges for the organization — such as strict licensing and staffing requirements. A real burden for Voice of Parents was that absolutely all specialists had to be formally hired onto staff and hold properly certified medical books.
The cash-flow gap was another challenge: since state payment arrives in arrears — against acts of services delivered — the organization had to wait an entire month for the money, while facing the problem of paying salaries and advances in the meantime. The team had to urgently seek a revolving loan to keep employees on formal contracts and honour its obligations to them.
Result: 50 children and young people in a safe environment
Despite the long road to implementation, the project produced tangible results. Fifty children and young people with disabilities gained the chance to spend time regularly in a safe and supportive environment, to interact with peers, develop social skills, and take part in a range of developmental activities. For their parents, the service became critical support, freeing up time to handle personal, household or medical matters.
At the same time, the Chernihiv community received a proven model of day-care service delivery — one that has demonstrated its effectiveness in meeting the needs of families raising children and young people with disabilities, and can serve as a foundation for further development of social services in the community.
The organization has proved that it is capable of administering state-level processes, coordinating a large volume of documentation, and finding a way out of financial crises for the sake of continuous support for the fifty young people in its care.
This organization's case shows: the social-procurement mechanism in Ukraine does work, though it requires providers to have a significant financial cushion and legal literacy. It's a prime example of how a parents' association grows into a professional, licensed social-service provider that city authorities take seriously.
Advice for those walking the same path
Don't be afraid, and be sure to try! You simply have to go through this experience yourself at least once — the next time will be much easier, and the processes will become clear and automatic. But remember: this process requires a determined, ironclad-motivated team confident in its own strengths. Without people burning for this cause, these challenges cannot be overcome.
Learn more about Voice of Parents on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GolosBatkiv