Social sector staffing: results of the Coalition of Social Service Providers' survey

Key figures

• 2020 organisations took part in the survey — from at least 7 oblasts of Ukraine and Kyiv.
• 14 out of 2014 out of 20 organisations consider specialised education important when selecting staff.
• 99 organisations named the positions that are hardest to fill: social workers, home-care workers, orderlies, physical therapists.
• 77 organisations believe that a diploma alone does not guarantee readiness for the job.
• 66 organisations link staff shortages to low pay and unstable funding.
• ≈15%≈15% of specialists have specialised education, according to the Ministry of Social Policy.

Context and purpose of the survey

When a person finds themselves in a difficult life situation, changes their status, or receives important news, they turn not to a ministry but to those close by: a territorial centre, a social assistance department, a civic organisation, or volunteers.

Social service providers are the first to meet people, listen to them, help them find their way, and refer them to the right specialists. They do the core work regardless of whether they operate in the state or the non-state sector.

That is why staffing policy in the social sector should be viewed through the lens of those who provide social services directly: how they enter the profession, what training they have, where they study, what helps them stay in their jobs, and what makes them leave.

To explore these questions, the Coalition of Social Service Providers surveyed its member civil society organisations.

20 organisations working in at least 7 oblasts of Ukraine and in Kyiv took part in the survey. They include network organisations and providers of home care, palliative care, and support for children with disabilities.

The survey covered three main areas:

• finding and recruiting staff;
• the importance of specialised education in staff selection;
• organising staff training and professional development.

This sample does not cover the entire social sector of Ukraine. However, the results make it possible to notice important trends and identify problems that require systemic solutions.

The Coalition pays particular attention to professional pre-higher and vocational education institutions. They are the ones that can train specialists to work directly with people, including professional junior bachelors and workers who provide home-care services.

1. How organisations look for staff

The survey results show that personal contacts and recommendations remain the main channels for finding staff.

• 13 out of 2013 out of 20 organisations look for staff through recommendations, acquaintances, and former volunteers.
• 1111 organisations publish vacancies.
• 66 organisations use the services of employment centres.
• 1Only 1 organisation named educational institutions as a recruitment channel.

Thus, cooperation between educational institutions and social service providers on employment is still underdeveloped.

There is a systemic gap: organisations need staff, educational institutions train graduates, but there is almost no effective mechanism to match training with employers' needs.

2. The role of specialised education

• 14 out of 2014 out of 20 organisations said that specialised education matters when selecting staff.
• ≈90%≈90% of staff at one organisation have higher education, but mostly not in «Social Work».
• 55 organisations said that their staff obtain the relevant education while already working.

However, the actual composition of teams points to a different trend: staff are mostly teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, and educators rather than specialists with a degree in social work.

This means that social service providers themselves are effectively taking on part of the job of training specialists. They have to make up for the lack of specialised knowledge and practical skills after staff are hired.

This approach helps organisations keep working, but it cannot replace systematic training of specialists in educational institutions.

3. How organisations train their staff

Professional training of staff takes place constantly, but it depends heavily on external support.

• 1212 organisations reported that training is provided by international partners and donors within relevant projects.
• 66 organisations turn to educational institutions for training services.
• 44 organisations specifically highlighted the effectiveness of supervision and mentoring.

These results show that the professional development of social sector workers does not yet have sufficient institutional support. In many cases, the opportunity to train depends on project funding rather than on ongoing support for staff.

It is also important to take into account the recently announced Government decisions, presented by the Ministry of Social Policy, on developing the training system for social sector specialists. These include, in particular, free courses, supervision, and counting training credits during certification.

A figure was also announced according to which only about 15% of specialists have specialised education. This is consistent with the general trend identified in the Coalition's survey.

Developing on-the-job training is an important step. But the question remains of how to ensure the transition from studying at an educational institution to the first job and further professional development.

4. Key staffing problems

Based on the survey results, the Coalition identifies 5 systemic problems.

5. Coalition recommendations: five directions of the Roadmap

The survey results show that staffing in the social sector currently depends largely on personal connections, the efforts of the organisations themselves, and donor support. Educational institutions are still little involved in this process.

The Coalition believes that solving the problem does not require creating additional structures. Instead, the existing mechanisms of education, employment, professional development, and funding of social services need to be connected.

Direction 1. Practice as a path to employment

An effective mechanism for the transition from study to work in social services needs to be created.

To this end, the Coalition recommends:

• developing long-term cooperation between educational institutions and territorial centres, social assistance departments, and non-state providers;
• providing a mentor for students at every practice placement;
• using the opportunities provided by regulations for paid internships and student employment contracts;
• creating an open social services vacancy resource linked to the State Employment Service system.

This will allow students to gain practical experience, employers to get to know future staff while they are still studying, and communities to plan their staffing needs.

Direction 2. Combining professional training with non-formal education

A mechanism needs to be defined by which the results of professional training, confirmed by practical experience and competences gained outside formal education, can be recognised and credited within educational programmes in «Social Work».

This could be done through recognition of non-formal learning outcomes, separate educational modules, or partial retraining programmes.

Five organisations that took part in the survey have already reported that their staff obtain specialised education while working. It is therefore important to develop a mechanism that makes it possible to scale this experience and make it accessible.

Direction 3. Aligning educational standards with employers' needs

The compliance of the educational standard for «Social Work» with professional standards and qualification requirements for specific positions needs to be reviewed.

In particular, it is necessary to clearly define:

• which positions professional junior bachelors are trained for;
• which competences are needed to work in home care and other social services;
• which practical skills a graduate should have upon completing their studies.

Representatives of state and non-state social service providers should be involved in updating educational programmes as experts, practitioner-lecturers, and mentors.

This will help narrow the gap between what is taught in educational institutions and the real requirements of the workplace.

Direction 4. Common approaches to positions, pay, and the cost of services

The Coalition recommends harmonising the classification of positions in the social sector and developing common approaches to pay and to calculating the cost of social services for state and non-state providers.

The cost of a service should include expenses for staff professional development, supervision, and mentoring.

This will make training a permanent component of social service provision rather than a temporary activity that depends solely on donor projects.

Direction 5. Prestige of the profession and staff retention

Staffing policy should provide not only for attracting new staff but also for creating conditions for their professional growth and long-term work in the field.

Priorities include:

• introducing supervision and mentoring as established practices of professional support;
• shaping clear career paths — from professional pre-higher education to the bachelor's degree and further levels of professional development;
• ensuring stable employment conditions and competitive pay;
• promoting real stories of graduates who chose the social sector and stayed in the profession.

The prestige of a profession is built not by slogans but by decent pay, stability, opportunities for growth, and a sense of professional support.

6. Priority steps

To move from recommendations to practical change, the Coalition proposes focusing on four priority steps.

1. Review the classification of positions and introduce harmonised approaches to pay and to calculating the cost of social services

The classifier of positions needs to be put in order, and a common methodology for determining pay and the cost of services for state and non-state providers needs to be developed.

2. Harmonise approaches to recognising learning outcomes and professional experience

The Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Social Policy should define mechanisms for crediting the results of professional training and confirmed experience towards educational programmes in «Social Work».

3. Align educational standards with professional requirements

Educational standards need to correspond to professional standards and qualification requirements for positions. Graduates and employers should have the same understanding of what work a specialist is prepared for after completing their studies.

4. Pilot the proposed model in communities

It would be advisable to choose two or three communities where educational institutions, territorial centres or social assistance departments, and civil society organisations are ready to cooperate.

As part of the pilot, paid internships, the student employment mechanisms provided for by law, mentoring, and supervision should be introduced with the participation of representatives of the state and non-state sectors.

The results of the pilot should be assessed against specific indicators: how many graduates found jobs in social services and how many of them were still working there after 1, 3, and 5 years.

Conclusion

The results of the Coalition of Social Service Providers' survey show that there is a systemic gap between education, employment, and the professional development of social sector workers.

Organisations mostly look for staff through personal contacts, organise additional training on their own, and often struggle to retain staff. Educational institutions are still insufficiently involved in building the social sector's workforce.

To solve these problems, a clear path from education to the profession needs to be created, practical training strengthened, access to professional development ensured, and working conditions harmonised for state and non-state social service providers.

The main goal is not simply to increase the number of graduates, but to increase the number of trained specialists who come to work in social services and stay there for the long term.