The Joint Area Review will evaluate and report on the outcomes for children and young people in Leicestershire. It assesses and judges the contributions made by public services to sustaining and improving outcomes for local children and young people.

The review incorporates the inspection of youth services and replaces the separate inspections of local education authorities, LA social services departments, Connexions Services and the provision for students aged 14 - 19.

Leicestershire will have its first Joint Area Review (JAR) during the weeks commencing Monday 15th and 22nd October 2007.

The JAR evaluates how our local services work together to improve outcomes for children and young people. The services being reviewed will include council services, health services, police and probation services, and publicly funded services provided by voluntary bodies. Evidence from other inspections, such as schools, further education colleges and residential settings will also contribute to the review.

The outcomes for children and young people growing up in the area and evaluate how local services work together to contribute to their achievements, progress and well-being

Whether there is effective protection for those children who are most vulnerable, in particular the JAR focuses on outcomes for Looked After Children, disabled children and safeguarding. It is also more than likely that progress on our 13 - 19 strategy will also be inspected

Review teams are multi-disciplinary and normally have inspectors from at least four inspectorates/commissions, including OfSTED, the Commission for Social Care Inspections (CSCI), the Health Care Commission (HCC), the Audit Commission and where appropriate the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).

If you work with, or for children and young people, then it will affect you. The impact of the Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters agenda and the outcome of the Joint Area Review will influence everyone working with children and young people across Leicestershire. The inspectors will be able to go wherever they choose to ask questions. As part of the inspection, a number of randomly selected case files relating to the more vulnerable children in the area are scrutinised to examine how far services work together to address their specific needs and promote their well-being.

A JAR Stakeholder team with representatives from across the agencies has been set up to prepare for the review. The group will ensure that all stakeholders are kept informed about the JAR process, how it is progressing, the roles and responsibilities of agencies/partners and individuals that may be involved directly or otherwise with the JAR process.