Social Services and Sustainable Regional Development

Decentralization Of Social Services And Sustainable Regional Development

Goods provided to regional residents can be considered public goods of local importance (Kosek-Wojnar, Surówka 2007; Johnson, Brown 2023). However, there is no significant local variation in the demand for such goods. In some departments, e.g. social welfare, it is not signalled as transparently as, for example, in the case of health care (Behera B., Prasad R., Behera S. 2021). The development of the ideas of civil society and social activism is causing local communities to realize the need for or discover the possibility of shaping the nature or scope of public goods provided by local government units. K. Pajak states that “the perception of human needs, their forecasting and satisfaction at the level of the first level of local government has a greater chance of success than on a national scale. However, in order for local needs to be properly addressed, there is a need to harmonize the process of meeting them with global social policy. It should be projected in such a way as to provide organizational, financial and legal conditions that allow the actual state in the area of local government operations to be confronted with national standards for meeting basic social needs. (Pająk 2005)” .