The purpose of the study is to examine the role of social programs in the structure of expenditures of the consolidated budgets of the Russian Federation and the Volgograd region, to identify the main directions for improving the content of targeted programs aimed at implementing specific measures in the field of social policy.Materials and methods: the methodology includes structural and statistical analysis, methods of economic forecasting and modeling. The analysis uses official statistical data, as well as re-ports on the performance of the consolidated budgets of the Russian Federation and the Volgograd region in the period 2014-2018. The paper contains an analysis of both scientific periodicals and non-periodical publications devoted to the topic of this study.Results: the paper discusses the features of spending budget funds for the implementation of social programs at both the federal and regional levels, reflects the model of the impact of the volume of budget financing of the social sphere on the state of the regional economy. In the course of the work, recommendations were developed to improve the mechanism for allocating financial resources, including elements of public-private partnership, as well as to stimulate the development of socially-oriented non-profit organizations that can become effective intermediaries between government agencies and the population in the implementation of social policy measures. The study revealed an upward trend in the volume of budget funds allocated for the implementation of activities within the framework of social environment development programs. At the same time, it was noted that this growth is partially offset by the dynamics of inflation, which indicates the need to optimize expenditure items taking into account data on changes in the consumer price index and the level of real incomes of citizens.Conclusion: centralizing the management of socio-economic development processes seems to be the most rational course of action in an unstable economic system. Improving the quality of life of the population of the regions occurs in the conditions of transformation of economic systems, during which the regional economy joins allRussian course. In the course of the work, the need to improve the effectiveness of the implemented social policy was justified, which becomes especially necessary in the conditions of increasing rates of population outflow from the Volgograd region. The developed social sphere of the region makes it possible to form effective civil society institutions, in which the population independently participates in the process of improving the social environment. To ensure control over timely and complete budget execution, state audit methods can be used (we are talking about regional and municipal control and accounting bodies), including strategic audit, which allows proactive control of the effectiveness of upcoming events. The results of this study can be used to track the dynamics of budget spending in the implementation of socially-oriented programs, as well as to determine the most promising areas of budget financing of the social environment.