Specialist
Safeguarding Children - Joint Inspections and Area Reviews
CHI Inspection 2003
In March and June 2003, CHI, together with the SSI and HMIC, carried out an inspection of all child protection services within the borough of Haringey. This was completed as part of the four-way inspection of child protection services in Haringey, Ealing, Enfield and Brent, following the death of Victoria Climbié and the subsequent public inquiry.
Joint Area Review 2006
Joint Area Reviews (JAR) are carried out under section 23 of the Children Act 2004. The arrangements for JARs have been developed by a group of Inspectorates working together under the leadership of Ofsted. These arrangements are described in:
- Framework for the inspection of children’s services;
- Inspection of children’s services: key judgements and illustrative evidence;
- Joint area reviews of children’s services.
These are all available on the Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. JARs will be conducted by multi-agency teams of inspectors.
The JAR will describe the outcomes achieved by children and young people growing up in the area, and evaluate the way local services, taken together, contribute to their well-being. They will focus on the extent to which all children and young people meet the five outcomes to:
- be healthy;
- stay safe;
- enjoy and achieve;
- make a positive contribution; and
- achieve economic well-being
The JAR includes all relevant services for children and young people whether provided by statutory, voluntary or private providers and will cover universal, preventive and targeted services. Particular attention will be given to joint action by local services on behalf of those groups of children and young people who are vulnerable to poor outcomes. Two such groups will be covered in detail in every review:
- children and young peo ple who are looked after by the council; and,
- children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
However, depending on the local circumstances, the inspectors may also look at the outcomes for other vulnerable groups.
Findings from recent inspections of local services for children and young people and from the annual performance assessment will be used by the inspectors in deciding which areas to focus on and where to do fieldwork such as surveys or interviews with staff and service users.
