Joint Area Review Overview

What is a JAR? Q. What is a Joint Area Review (JAR)? A. A JAR provides a comprehensive report on the outcomes for children and young people in each local area. It incorporates the inspection of youth services and replaces the separate inspections of local education authorities, local authorities' social services, Connexions services, and the provision for students aged Normally the JAR is carried out at the same time as the Audit Commission's corporate assessment of the council, and is aligned with the inspection of youth offending teams undertaken by HMI Probation.

What will we be judged on?  The Every Child Matters outcomes for children and young people  Being Healthy  Staying safe  Enjoying and achieving  Making a positive contribution  Achieving economic well being  Service management

What will we be judged on?  The service management judgements are as important as the five outcomes.  These judgements are on the way we jointly contribute to improving services for children.  Service management is all about our:  Ambitions  Prioritisation  Capacity  Performance management

What are our main JAR events? Stage Confirm selection of key judgements on which fieldwork will be carried out, arrangements for case tracking and neighbourhood studies Focus on gathering evidence from children and young people, their parents/carers, workers, service managers members and partners Draft report produced four weeks after fieldwork with two weeks for comment then a further four week delay before publication Provide information on new arrangements Improvement activities and development of self assessment evidence Review and refresh of Children and Young People’s Plan Fieldwork WC 3 & 10 September Analysis WC 9 July 2007 Set Up Meeting Early May Briefing Pack Latest March/Early April Reporting Mid November Analysis of the available evidence, make judgements and hypotheses which will be tested during the hypothesis week Briefing Conference Tellus Survey Identification of 100 ‘social care’ case files

The self assessment process  The JAR self assessment process is to be linked to the annual review of the Children & Young People’s Plan.  Guidance to be issued by DFES which will clarity format for the review.  Until further guidance is made available work continues on evaluating our performance against the key judgements set out in the grade criteria.

Key Judgements - Be Healthy 1.1 Parents and carers receive support to keep their children healthy 1.2 Healthy lifestyles are promoted for children and young people 1.3 Action is taken to promote children and young people’s physical health 1.4 Action is taken to promote children and young people’s mental health 1.5 Looked after children’s health needs are addressed 1.6 The health needs of children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are addressed

Key Judgements – Stay Safe 2.1 Children and young people and their carers are informed about key risks to their safety and how to deal with them 2.2 Children and young people are provided with a safe environment 2.3 The incidence of child abuse and neglect is minimised 2.4 Agencies collaborate to safeguard children according to the requirements of current government guidance 2.5 Services are effective in establishing the identity and whereabouts of all children and young people 0– Action is taken to avoid children and young people having to be looked after 2.7 Looked after children live in safe environments and are protected from abuse and exploitation 2.8 Children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities live in safe environments and are protected from abuse and exploitation

Key Judgements – Enjoy & Achieve 3.1 Parents and carers receive support in helping their children to enjoy and achieve 3.2 Early years provision promotes children’s development and well-being and helps them meet early learning goals 3.3 Action is taken to ensure that educational provision 5–16 is of good quality 3.4 Children and young people are enabled and encouraged to attend and enjoy school and to achieve highly 3.5 Educational provision is made for children who do not attend school 3.6 All children and young people can access a range of recreational activities, including play and voluntary learning provision 3.7 Children and young people who are looked after are helped to enjoy and achieve 3.8 Children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are helped to enjoy and achieve

Key Judgements – Positive Contribution 4.1 Children and young people are supported in developing socially and emotionally 4.2 Children and young people, particularly those from vulnerable groups, are supported in managing changes and responding to challenges in their lives 4.3 Children and young people are encouraged to participate in decision making and in supporting the community 4.4 Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour by children and young people 4.5 Action is taken to prevent offending and to reduce re-offending by children and young people 4.6 Children and young people who are looked after are helped to make a positive contribution 4.7 Children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are helped to make a positive contribution

Key Judgements – Economic Well-being 5.1 Action is taken by partners to support families in maximising their economic well-being 5.2 Young people 11–19 are helped to prepare for working life 5.3Action is taken to ensure that 14–19 education and training is planned and delivered in a coordinated way, and to ensure that education and training (16–19) is of good quality 5.4 Community regeneration initiatives address the needs of children and young people 5.5 Action is taken to ensure that young people have decent housing 5.6 Children and young people who are looked after are helped to achieve economic well-being 5.7 Children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are helped to achieve economic well-being

Key Judgements – Service Management 6.1 Ambition a) There are clear and challenging ambitions for the area b) Ambitions are based on a shared understanding of local needs amongst partner organisations and with the community 6.2 Prioritisation a) There are clear and robust priorities within the ambitions for the area 6.3 Capacity a) There is clear accountability and decision making to support service delivery and improvement b) Capacity is used efficiently and effectively and is developed to deliver ambitions, priorities and value for money c) The needs of individual children, young people and their families are effectively identified, recorded and communicated 6.4 Performance management a) There is a consistent, rigorous and open approach to performance management b) Partner organisations know how well they and each other are performing against planned outcomes c) Knowledge about performance is used to drive improvements in outcomes

How is the JAR and CPA linked? Corporate Assessment Healthier Communities Safer and stronger Sustainable Communities Outcomes for older people Outcomes for CYP Ambition Prioritisation Capacity Performance Management The Judgement Findings/ examples about children and young people Joint Area Reviews (All local services for children and young people) Being Healthy Staying Safe Enjoying & Achieving Making a positive contribution Achieving economic well being Service Management Capacity to improve Youth Service Inspection Findings ONCE IN THREE YEARS (2005 – 2008) Youth Offending Service Inspection