What is a joint area review (JAR)?
A Joint Area Review (JAR) is part of the new integrated inspection framework for Children’s Services. The JAR is an external evaluation of how all children’s services in an area are working together and are contributing to the well-being of children and young people. The services to be reviewed include county and district council services, health services, police and probation services and publicly funded services provided by voluntary bodies. Children’s Services in County Durham were the subject of a Joint Area Review (JAR) during May 2007. A report will be published within eight weeks of the review and a summary report, written specifically for children and young people, will also be produced and published locally.
A Joint Area Review judges whether children and young people are healthy, safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and are well prepared to secure economic well-being in the future. 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 14-19. It also incorporates the work undertaken with children and young people by the Health services, District Councils, Police, and the voluntary and faith organisations.
From September 2005 separate inspections of different services for children and young people will be phased out (these include inspections of local education authorities, local authority social care functions for children, Connexions service, area provision for students aged 14-19, Children’s Fund programmes, and the youth service. These will be replaced by a Joint Area Review that will inspect and make comprehensive judgements about the collective impact of local services for children and young people aged 0 to 19 years. The starting point of the JAR will be performance set against the five outcomes of the Children Act (2004): Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being Services to be reviewed will include council services, health services, police, probation services, Connexions, the Learning and Skills Council and publicly-funded services provided by community and voluntary organisations. this is a back to the top icon When did the
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 14-19. 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.
The Joint Area Review (JAR) is an inspection of all children’s services within a local area undertaken by a team of inspectors from several government agencies. Wolverhampton was inspected in March 2007. Inspectors looked at how the council and our partners work and where improvements could be made. At the same time, the council, with its partners, had a corporate assessment which was linked to the Joint Area Review. Recent government legislation placed a new duty on local services to co-operate, to safeguard and promote the well being of children and young people. The aim of the legislation is to provide a joined-up service for children, young people, their parents and carers, to produce better outcomes in their lives.
