CAFCASS | Family Court Advisor| Childrens Services

Caritas Recruitment; Coventry; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A recruitment agency in the social work sector seeks a dedicated professional to provide advanced services to children and families in Coventry. The role involves safeguarding children in legal contexts and advocating for their best interests throughout the judicial process. Candidates must have strong negotiation skills, organizational abilities, and a focus on quality casework. The position demands resilience and a commitment to child welfare.

Qualifications

• Advanced social work qualification is essential.
• Experience in safeguarding and child protection.
• Ability to manage a high throughput of wellbeing-focused casework.

Responsibilities

• Provide assessments and analyses regarding child welfare.
• Advocate for children in court and safeguard their interests.
• Deliver high-quality early safeguarding advice.

Skills

Child-focused advocacy

Skilled negotiation

IT and organizational skills

Reflective practice

Job description

Overview

Role Based across Coventry, Warwickshire & Wolverhampton

JOB SUMMARY: To provide advanced social work-level services to children, families and courts by assessing and analysing court applications for any child protection and serious welfare issues affecting a child or young person. Also, to influence those with parental responsibility to be more child-focused when needed, to advise the courts and Local Authorities about safeguarding concerns and about how a child's life can be improved, supporting judicial case management in the process.

To achieve this, you will need to keep the child at the centre of your work through high quality direct work with children and their families as well as high quality analysis and assessment. You will also need to be a skilled negotiator, working persuasively with family members and professionals on behalf of children. You will need to keep the child\'s timescale in the context of the child\'s journey through childhood and, where applicable, the care system, at the centre of everything you do and you must be prepared to advocate in the best interests of the child, ensuring their voice is not lost in the court arena. You will be required to be a resilient, reflective and accountable practitioner, possessing good IT and organisational skills, so that you can maintain a high throughput of outstanding casework.

FCA RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES in line with Cafcass Service Standards. (Responsibilities and Duties may vary depending upon specific role):

Safeguarding/Child Protection

• To provide high quality early safeguarding and child protection advice, assessments and analysis to the Court on the needs and best interests of children subject to or involved in Family Proceedings
• To ensure that the well-being and safety of the child is paramount throughout Cafcass' involvement in the case.
• To ensure that all incidents or risks of significant harm to the child are dealt with in accordance with the relevant Local Safeguarding Children's Board (LSCB) procedures and Cafcass policies and procedures
• To directly work with, or on behalf of children & families to achieve safe and positive outcomes for children, referring to other services where this will produce benefit.

Service Effectiveness Throughput and Productivity

• To produce high quality work with a rapid throughput, combining increasing productivity with quality of casework.
• For all work produced to be rated good or outstanding in internal and external audits, with exceptions tolerated where the learning gained from these exceptions can be absorbed and applied to future work.
• To be fully engaged with Cafcass policy that all cases must be allocated and to adopt a proportionate approach to work, assessing the needs of the case. In response to changing demands, the regulating mechanism will be the average time spent on cases; which is lower when demands are higher and vice versa.

Caritas Recruitment is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy