Policy and Practice: Briefing What to expect from a Joint Area Review

So what will the process be? Things will start off with a briefing conference about four months before the inspections take place, to tell everyone how to prepare.

Then what? The views and experiences of 600 young people will be collected through a confidential web-based survey known as Tellus. This will identify issues for further investigation. There will then be a setting-up stage between the lead inspector and the director of childrens services, leading councillors and other partners, to confirm the timetable, decide which areas should be a priority for fieldwork, and identify individual cases for in-depth study. Eventually, the full review team will spend a week together to analyse documentation such as existing inspection findings, self-assessment material, local plans and individual case records. And what does the fieldwork involve? Up to two weeks of visits and enq-uiries into no more than 10 of the 35 key judgment areas identified for JARs. There will be case-tracking, meetings with service managers and frontline staff and discussions with children, young people, parents and carers. There will be at least one det-ailed neighbourhood study focusing on an area such as a housing estate. How will the JAR team report? The lead inspector will discuss emerging issues with the director of childrens services while the team is still on site, and headline feedback will be given at the end of fieldwork. A draft report will follow within four weeks and the director of childrens services has two weeks to comment. A full report will follow a month later, together with a child-friendly version. And what kind of verdicts will be available? There are four grades: does not deliver minimum requirements; only delivers minimum requirements; consistently delivers above minimum requirements; and delivers well above minimum requirements.