The leadership team of the national Quality Improvement Center on early Childhood ventured into the frontiers of deep change in social systems by funding four research projects. The purpose of the research projects was to learn about implementing a protective factors approach with the goal of reducing the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. In tandem, the cross-site evaluation team ventured into the evaluation frontiers by using developmental evaluation, an approach designed to investigate systemic change in complex social systems. The article discusses the evaluation methodology, ways to understand and influence systems change, key learning about provider and partnership support for parents, outcomes for parents, guiding principles for implementing a protective factors approach, and implications for a long-term research and practice agenda.