The National Youth Agency - Ninth round Joint Area Reviews (JARs)

Ninth round Joint Area Reviews (JARs)

Ofsted has published two more rounds of Joint Area Reviews (JARs) which continue to include an encouraging number of positive references to the role of youth services. JARs examine how far children and young people in a local authority are achieving the Every Child Matters outcomes – are healthy, safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and experience economic wellbeing. They cover all education and social services directly managed or commissioned by a local authority as well as health and youth justice services provided by partner agencies.

A total of nine reports have been published which show that youth services are contributing to the majority of the five outcomes, particularly helping young people to make a positive contribution and stay healthy.

Also of interest...

While it is sometimes difficult to detect youth services’ contribution to partnership work, scrutiny of youth service inspection reports reveal instances where youth services are involved in multi-agency work highlighted in JARs.

BEING HEALTHY

Six reports show how youth services are contributing to young people’s health and wellbeing. In Hartlepool, a mobile youth support bus delivers drug, alcohol and sex education programmes and is described as ‘well used and highly rated by users’. The youth service also provides other ‘effective’ health-related programmes, including work to raise awareness of sexual health among young people. The youth service in Islington contributes to the work of Pulse N7, a one-stop shop which supports young people’s physical and mental health. The project also provides young people with access to same day sexual health screening. The young people’s service in North East Lincolnshire is closely linked with Choices, clinics providing sexual health services to young people in the area. It has also developed a counselling service which specialises in working with autistic young people.

In Lincolnshire, the youth service works in partnership with Connexions to deliver sexual health advice and support for young people, and was involved in piloting the C Card condom scheme, which the report notes has achieved wide coverage. Torbay youth service is also involved in a condom distribution scheme alongside youth offending services. The report on Somerset describes the youth service as providing good provision to promote the emotional health of children and young people.

STAYING SAFE

Although youth services’ contribution to this outcome is not often highlighted, two reports show that youth services have a role in helping to keep young people safe. The young people’s service in Islington is described as providing a ‘good, safe environment for young people’. The work of Pulse N7, delivered in partnership with the youth service, is also highlighted as having a ‘positive impact on admissions to the care system’. The report on Somerset notes that ‘the standard of [CRB] checking is above statutory requirements and commendably includes all volunteers working in schools and youth service provision’.

ENJOYING AND ACHIEVING

The contribution youth services and youth workers make to this outcome is through informal learning, particularly with vulnerable groups of young people. The youth service in Lincolnshire works alongside the youth offending team to make ‘valuable and effective contributions to improve attendance and behaviour and reduce exclusions’. The youth service is also described as a major provider of sports, arts and performance related activities for young people. The report on Ealing describes how ‘one youth centre is targeted at children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and its services are promoted in special schools’. In Somerset, the ‘outstanding youth service’ is described as making a ‘major contribution’ to the provision of recreational and voluntary learning opportunities across the county. Similarly, in North East Lincolnshire, the youth service is highlighted as making a ‘good contribution’ to the wide range of recreational and voluntary learning opportunities available to young people.

MAKING A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION

Reports show that youth services consistently make a major contribution to this outcome.

Local democracy

The report on North East Lincolnshire notes that there is a ‘strong commitment’ from the young people’s service to listen to the views of young people. The local YouthBank project also provides ‘good opportunities’ for young people to contribute to service design and the development of neighbourhood initiatives. In Newcastle upon Tyne, ‘many children and young people’s voices are heard through school councils and the youth clubs which they attend’. Somerset has three local members of the UK Youth Parliament, who are supported by an advisory group of 30 young people. The report also notes that young people’s participation in the election of YMPs is high. In Harrow, the ‘active youth council’ enables young people to communicate well with local politicians. The youth council in Lincolnshire is also described as ‘active’ and is beginning to make a visible contribution to the work of the children and young people’s services plan. Ealing Youth Action is described as having made ‘good progress’ since being launched in 2006, and its first youth Speak Out conference was ‘successful in attracting a large audience and enabling young people to engage in debate with local councillors and officers’. The report on Islington describes how youth workers facilitated consultation with young people in housing projects.

Personal development

The report on Somerset describes the youth service as ‘particularly effective’ in supporting children and young people to develop socially and emotionally. Newcastle upon Tyne youth service also provides good support in this respect. In Harrow, the youth service provides ‘effective summer activities’ where young people are developing ‘good personal qualities, such as confidence and self-esteem’. The youth service in Ealing works alongside Connexions to help children and young people manage the transfer to other schools.

Anti-social behaviour

Lincolnshire youth service and the youth offending team are described as providing ‘excellent examples of joint working’ to identify young people at risk of anti-social behaviour and ‘make a positive contribution to supporting young people in leading constructive lives and raising their self-esteem’. In Harrow, the report notes that there are only a small number of Anti-Social Behaviour Contracts in place, due to a range of effective activities to reduce anti-social behaviour that includes a partnership project between the youth service and Watford Football Club. The report on Ealing notes that ‘as a result of targeted work, the youth and Connexions service, in partnership with Ealing Homes, report a reduction in levels of anti-social behaviour in local hotspots’.

Supporting vulnerable young people

The youth service in Hartlepool is described as ‘working with many vulnerable and hard to reach young people’, and provides effective targeted work with specific groups such as deaf children. Lincolnshire youth service runs a ‘good’ project for refugees and asylum seekers. The report on Somerset describes the youth service as ‘particularly effective in supporting vulnerable young people with low self-esteem and difficulties with anger management’. The youth service in Harrow provides an integrated youth club for young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. In North East Lincolnshire, a Looked After Children and Young Persons Participation Group has direct links with the Council for Young People. In Ealing, looked after young people were consulted over the design of a new drop-in centre as a result of their involvement in the Corporate Parenting Committee.