In this article, the author discovers issues of responsibility of leaders of local communities in the field of social protection. The article analyzes the legislation of Ukraine, which regulates issues of responsibility of officials of local communities. The author gives a description of multilevel governance in the system of social protection as part of the mechanism of deterrence and counterbalance of the activities of local communities. The article is interesting for the recommendations on the improvement of the mechanism of responsibility of the leaders of local communities for the poor quality and untimely provision of social services to residents of the community.