Abstract: An integral element of the legal status of employees of institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties is their social and legal protection. This concept has a complex nature and includes several types of legal guarantees. The subject of the research is a comprehensive analysis of the current state and the prospects for improving the implementation of social guarantees by employees of the penal enforcement system under modern Russian socio-economic conditions. The aim of the research is to characterize contemporary trends and experiences in implementing social policy in the field of ensuring the welfare of employees of the penal enforcement system and their families; to identify the most relevant and significant issues for law enforcement practice in this area; and to develop a comprehensive set of measures to improve the system of medical, housing, and other types of social security for employees of the Russian penal system. The methodological foundation of this work consists of a group of general scientific and special methods, including dialectical, normative-legal, statistical, sociological, predictive methods, as well as induction and deduction. The novelty of the conducted scientific research lies in: firstly, the development of regulations for providing a separate state service - the provision of high-tech medical assistance not included in the basic mandatory health insurance program; secondly, the normative regulation and introduction of the practice of monitoring the completeness, timeliness, and quality of medical services provided to the contingent of employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation; thirdly, the adoption of practices for maintaining the mental health of employees of correctional institutions. Among the optimal and most rational ways to eliminate the identified difficulties in the area of housing provision, one can highlight, firstly, the addition of the list of social guarantees for the penal enforcement employees with the opportunity to obtain a service mortgage, and secondly, the simplification of the procedure for providing housing guarantees through the improvement of inter-agency cooperation in the process of obtaining the necessary documents.

Keywords: convicted persons, employee of the penitentiary system, unified social payment, housing provision, mental health, quality of medical services, medical assistance, benefits, social security, penal enforcement system