Joint Area Reviews JARs

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• Joint Area Reviews (JARs)
• Portsmouth 2008
• A Guide for Practitioners

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• What is a Joint Area Review?
• A JAR is an external inspection - led by Ofsted -
  to evaluate the way local services, taken
  together, contribute to the outcomes achieved by
  children and young people
• JARs focus on the extent to which services
  contribute to children and young people being
  healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving,
  making a positive contribution and achieving
  economic well-being.

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• What is a Joint Area Review?
• The inspection gives particular attention to
• any areas of work deemed to be weak
• safeguarding
• looked after children
• children and young people with learning
  difficulties or disabilities
• Every English local authority area will beJARed
  by end of 2008
• JARs are conducted by multidisciplinary teams
  using a common approach based on the Framework
  for the inspection of childrens services.

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• How does the JAR fit in?
• JARs have replaced the separate inspections of
  various areas of children services
• Evidence from other inspections, such as schools
  and residential settings, will contribute to the
  inspection
• Normally, a JAR will take place at the same times
  as the Corporate Performance Assessment (CPA) of
  local councils
• The JAR is taking place at the same time as the
  city councils overall corporate performance
  assessment
• The JAR judgements contribute directly to the CPA.

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• What is used to come to judgements?
• Many judgements can be made from performance
  data, existing inspection evidence,
  self-assessments and documentation
• The latest review of the Children and Young
  Peoples Plan
• Views of children and young people (including
  2006 Tellus2 survey) and parents and carers
• The views of voluntary and community partners
• An evaluation of case files for vulnerable
  children
• Interviews and discussions with a wide range of
  staff, partners, children and their families.

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• Making Judgements
• There are 36 key judgements on how services
  contribute to outcomes for children and young
  people
• 4 judgement areas assessing the effectiveness of
  management and its capacity to further improve
  outcomes
• There is a focus on safeguarding, looked after
  children and those with learning difficulties
  and/or disabilities.

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• Summary Judgments

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• Summary Judgments

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• Summary Judgments

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• Will it Make a Difference?
• Preparing for the JAR helps us to sharpen up our
  knowledge of what we are doing well (and not so
  well.)
• A good score will mean that we can be more self
  regulating with less external monitoring.
• Explaining to other improves our policy and
  strategy.
• The focus of the inspection is on what we do to
  improve outcomes helping us understand cause and
  effect.
• Our response to the JAR judgement will continue
  to improve services.
• The inspection gives a real opportunity to
  showcase our good work and impact .
• SO THE ANSWER ISYES

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• Portsmouth JAR Project Team
• Lynda Fisher Strategic Director for Children,
  Families and Learning
• Paddy Bradley Head of Learning and Achievement
• Marc Rostock Planning, Performance and Policy
• If you would like to know more, please see
• www.portsmouthchildrenstrust.org

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• What can I do?
• Reflect on what you do and how it improves
  outcomes for children and families.
• Contribute to general information gathering.
• Meet any reasonable deadlines.
• Tell us now no surprises.
• Be aware that some people will be more involved
  in the JAR than you may not be able to respond as
  quickly as usual.
• We are a good Children Services Authority and
  need to maintain this whilst preparing for (and
  after) inspection.

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• How will a JAR effect me?
• The outcome will impact upon everybody who works
  with children in Portsmouth. The inspection
  process will involve relatively few.
• During the field work, 2 weeks commencing 30th
  June, you may be asked to provide information at
  short notice in response to the inspection teams
  lines of enquiry.
• Some may be involved directly in meetings or
  focus groups with inspectors, others may have
  inspectors visiting places of work.
• Some people might be asked to provide further
  information in response to draft judgements after
  the inspection.
• We can all play a part by supporting each other.

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• Be Healthy
• Children and young people are physically
  healthy mentally and emotionally healthy
  sexually healthy have healthy lifestyles choose
  not to take illegal drugs
• parents and carers receive support to keep their
  children healthy
• healthy lifestyles are promoted for children and
  young people
• action is taken to promote physical health
• action is taken to promote mental health
• looked after childrens health needs are
  addressed
• the health needs of children and young people
  with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
  are addressed.

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• Staying Safe
• Children and young people are safe from
  maltreatment, neglect, violence and sexual
  exploitation safe from accidental injury and
  death safe from bullying and discrimination
  safe from crime and anti-social behaviour in and
  out of school have security and stability and
  are cared for.
• children and young people and their carers are
  informed about key risks to their safety and how
  to deal with them
• children and young people are provided with a
  safe environment
• the incidence of child abuse and neglect is
  minimised.

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• Staying Safe (continued)
• agencies collaborate to safeguard children
  according to the requirements of the current
  government guidance
• services are effective in establishing the
  identity and whereabouts of all children and
  young people aged 0-16
• action is taken to avoid children and young
  people having to be looked after
• looked after children live in safe environments
  and are protected from abuse and exploitation
• children and young people with learning
  difficulties and/or disabilities live in safe
  environments and are protected from abuse and
  exploitation.

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• Enjoying and achieving
• Children and young people are ready for
  school attend and enjoy school achieve
  stretching national educational standards at
  primary school achieve personal and social
  development and enjoy recreation achieve
  stretching national educational standards at
  secondary school.
• parents and carers receive support in helping
  their children to enjoy and achieve
• early years provision promotes childrens
  development and well-being and helps them meet
  early learning goals
• action is taken to ensure that education
  provision for 516 year olds is of good quality.

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• Enjoying and achieving
• children and young people are encouraged to
  attend and enjoy school and enabled to achieve
  highly
• educational provision is made for children who do
  not attend school
• all children and young people can access a range
  of recreational activities, including play and
  voluntary learning provision
• children and young people who are looked after
  are helped to enjoy and achieve
• children and young people with learning
  difficulties and/or disabilities are helped to
  enjoy and achieve.

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• Making a positive contribution
• Children and young people engage in
  decision-making and support the community and
  environment engage in law-abiding and positive
  behaviour in and out of school develop positive
  relationships and choose not to bully and
  discriminate develop self-confidence and
  successfully deal with significant life changes
  and challenges develop enterprising behaviour
• children and young people are supported in
  developing socially and emotionally
• children and young people, particularly those
  from vulnerable groups, are supported in managing
  changes and responding to challenges in their
  lives.

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• Making a positive contribution (continued.)
• children and young people are encouraged to
  participate in decision-making and in supporting
  the community
• action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour
  by children and young people
• action is taken to prevent offending and to
  reduce re-offending by children and young people
• children and young people who are looked after
  are helped to make a positive contribution
• children and young people with learning
  difficulties and/or disabilities are helped to
  make a positive contribution.

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• Achieving economic well-being
• Children and young people engage in further
  education, employment or training on leaving
  school are ready for employment live in decent
  homes and sustainable communities have access to
  transport and material goods live in households
  free from low-income
• action is taken by partners to support families
  in maximising their economic well-being
• young people aged 1119 are helped to prepare for
  working life.

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• Achieving economic well-being (continued.)
• action is taken to ensure that 1419 education
  and training is planned and delivered in a
  coordinated way, and to ensure that education and
  training (for 1619 year olds) is of good quality
• community regeneration initiatives address the
  needs of children and young people
• action is taken to ensure that young people have
  decent housing
• action is taken to ensure that young people have
  decent housing
• children and young people who are looked after
  are helped to achieve economic well-being
• children and young people with learning
  difficulties and/or disabilities are helped to
  achieve economic well-being.