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The independent review of children's social care (2022) has proposed a radical reset of England's children's services, shifting a remote, assessment heavy system towards one that works alongside communities to help prevent statutory interventions. However, notions around the harnessing of community resources to deliver Early Help are often underpinned by assumptions regarding the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and the ease with which such organizations can be integrated into preventative strategies. This paper reports findings from embedded research within a unitary authority in Southwest England during remodelling of its Early Help service to work more collaboratively with local VCSE organizations. The study generated data from ethnographic observations, semi‐structured interviews and focus groups with 95 participants, including local parents, service providers, VCSE organizations and Council leaders. The findings illustrate that families value the compassionate, responsive and flexible support available within many VCSE settings. However, differences in practice cultures, regulatory pressures on statutory providers, the need to (re)build trust in communities and sensitivities around power‐sharing and resourcing meant negotiating VCSE sector integration was fraught with complexities. Few studies have gained such privileged access to a Local Authority's remodelling of Early Help services, and this paper has significant insights for the debates surrounding the independent review of children's social care (2022) and its recommendation to bring services 'closer to communities'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Child protection system building in the Middle-East and North Africa is under-researched. • Lebanon's child protection system has undergone significant reform since 2015, moving towards a more integrated, procedural, and standardised model. • Unifying state, non-governmental, and religious stakeholders under one framework however remains challenging. • This paper recommends greater inclusion of community-based protection mechanisms and reengagement with religious family courts. Lebanon's fledgling child protection (CP) system has been criticised for being fragmented and overly crisis-driven to the detriment of the children served. This article conceptualises Lebanon's 'pluralistic' model and is the first to examine the contentious government reforms which have taken place since 2014. Drawing on 54 semi-structured stakeholder interviews, we examine how the state has wrested power from religious authorities, introduced national CP practice standards, and increased supervision of non-governmental services. This paper argues that these reforms have moved Lebanon further towards an integrated, legalistic and procedural CP approach. However, unresolved challenges remain to reconcile the competing roles, interests and capabilities of the state, the non-governmental sector, and religious authorities under one cohesive framework. This paper recommends strengthening support for the non-governmental sector, improving inclusion of community-based protection mechanisms, and reengagement with religious family courts to better meet the needs of children. The study not only has important implications for the development of Lebanon's protection system but also for the theories and practice debates surrounding system building in low and middle-income countries and the Middle-East and North African region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]