Government Updates the Procedure for Providing Social Services to IDPs Under the “Money Follows the Person” Principle: We Analyze the Changes
On July 22, 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a new procedure for providing residential care and supported living services under the “money follows the person” principle. The procedure applies to older internally displaced people (IDPs) and people with disabilities who were forced to relocate because of the war. The new procedure is intended to simplify the mechanism for providing and receiving services and ensure continuity of care.
The “money follows the person” principle means that budget funds are allocated to pay for social services for a specific individual rather than for an institution. This allows people to choose their service provider from among the providers participating in the project.
The new Cabinet Resolution No. 966 as of July 22, 2026, effectively extends the pilot project established by Cabinet Resolution No. 888 as of August 6, 2024.
The East SOS advocacy team analyzed the key changes and their practical implications. Here are some of the key points:
• Resolution No. 966 extends the project until August 8, 2028. This will ensure continuity in the provision of social services to older IDPs and people with disabilities. A transitional mechanism is also provided: people who are already receiving services under Resolution No. 888 can continue receiving them without a new decision being required.
• It will be easier for service providers to continue participating in the project. Providers that already participated under Resolution No. 888 may also be included in the new list of participants without having to go through the selection procedure from scratch.
• The procedure for including service providers in the project has been further detailed and digitalized. In particular, documents can be submitted electronically.
• The procedure for deciding whether to provide social services has been improved: it is now more predictable and establishes specific time limits for each stage.
• State quality control of services has been strengthened. The revised procedure provides a more detailed description of the mechanism for monitoring the quality of social services and how such monitoring is to be conducted.
The full analysis of the new resolution is available below:
The advocacy activities are carried out within the project “Protection and Psychosocial Services for People with Limited Mobility and Persons with Disabilities Affected by the War”, implemented with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
Recently, the Coalition of Human Rights Organizations shared information on changes introduced by the updated law on internally displaced people.
