Job Description
We have an opportunity for multiple Family Court Advisers in the Work After First Hearing service at Cafcass – are you interested? Or can you recommend someone for £250 if placed?
* All Private Law roles
* London-based
* Roughly 2-3 days per week of visits and court attendance – rest of the time working from home
* Family visits all done at Cafcass office bases
Areas covered: London (office bases Holborn or Croydon)
Pay rate: £37 approx.
Please only apply for this role if you meet the requirements at the bottom of the email.
We are an approved supplier to Cafcass, achieving this status through a competitive process and retaining it by delivering quality, timely and compliant services. Being one of Cafcass’ preferred partners ensures we will always be given priority access to any Social Work vacancies they ask external agencies to support them with.
Work After First Hearing will involve the following:
* Children’s Social Workers (or as we will professionally call you - Family Court Advisers) are involved in cases where the families require the assistance to agree on the best arrangements for the welfare and safety of the child(ren) involved.
* Children’s Social Workers key responsibilities include:
* Conducting assessments and directly engaging with children to understand and represent their views and wishes to the court.
* Using expertise in robust risk assessment and mediation will be essential as you advocate for arrangements that prioritise the best interest of the children.
* Private Law - If in a private law case after the first court hearing there is not an agreement about children or there are concerns about the welfare of children the court may ask us to write a Section 7 report to help the judge make a safe decision and the responsibility for doing this will transfer to the WAFH team.
* Face-to-face visits
* Lots of hybrid working
Requirements of the role:
* Social Work qualified
* Social Work England registered
* Significant post-qualified experience in children & families social care (not subject to DFE rules) - 2-3 years minimum in a children’s local authority social work post
* Recent experience of Private Law work
* Court experience & confidence in the court arena
* A high standard of assessment and case analysis
* Confident in providing oral evidence when not represented by a solicitor/barrister.
* Ability to produce written work to a high standard
* Communicates effectively and demonstrates empathy with children & families within the family justice system
* Effective communication and joint working with a range of professionals and agencies.
* Be child-centred and understand how to engage with children creatively.
Please contact me asap to discuss in more detail. We are offering £250 joining bonus for new starters with Reed.
Alternatively, we are offering £250 if you refer a friend or colleague and they are placed successfully into this or any other QSW role.