The problem of training of social work specialists for the professional activity on social services provision has been actualized in the article. The purpose of training social workers in Ukraine is to form a highly educated, highly humane, comprehensively developed personality, who have a high culture and generally meets the qualification characteristic of the profession. The purpose of the article is to characterize the content of professional activity of social work specialists in social services provision. Research methods applied: analysis of scientific literature, normative-legal documents in order to clarify the essence of key concepts of the research; synthesis, comparison and generalization – for determination of the areas of work of a social work specialist in the local community; system-generalizing method – for formulation of competencies and conclusions based on research results; prognostic – for determination of the prospects of improving the system of training social work specialists to provide the social services in the community. The professional activity of a social worker is based on international ethical standards, taking into account the uniqueness of each client, their capabilities and rights, awareness of responsibility for their behavior in a particular situation, the purpose of such activity should be restoring the ability of clients (citizens of the community) to overcome difficult life circumstances on their own. The training of future social work specialists in the higher educational institution is to be aimed at forming their readiness to realization of the functions of professional activity. This readiness is manifested in the formation of relevant competencies, which we will identify and analyze through the prism of the functions of the professional activity of social work specialist in the process of providing social services. It is determined that diagnostic, prognostic, transformative, designing, communicative, organizational, human rights, preventive, psychotherapeutic, promotional, social and pedagogical and social competencies should be formed for performing the functions of professional activity of social work specialists in providing social services. The list of presented functions with the relevant competencies of a social work specialist can be supplemented depending on the purpose, tasks, forms, methods of social work in the process of providing social services in the local community.