Children's Social Workers

Cafcass; Abingdon; Remote; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Cafcass in England is seeking Family Court Advisers to join our Private and Public Law teams, working to understand and represent the views of children in court.

You will conduct assessments, listen to children, and use risk assessment and mediation to advocate for arrangements that prioritise their best interests. We offer flexible and remote working options and wellbeing support.

Qualifications

• Relevant Social Work qualification is essential.
• You must be registered with Social Work England regulator.
• You'll ideally have a minimum of 3 years' experience working with children and families in a social work capacity.
• Experience in Family Court proceedings and understanding of Private and/or Public Law would be an advantage.

Responsibilities

• 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 to advocate for arrangements that prioritise the best interests of the children.
• You may work from our office but teams work flexibly and remotely to suit you.

Skills

Risk assessment

Mediation

Child advocacy

Independent working

Education

Relevant Social Work qualification

Job description

Working in the Private and/or Public Law teams, Children's Social Workers (or as we will professionally call you - Family Court Advisers) are involved in a combination of cases where either the families require the assistance to agree on the best arrangements for the welfare and safety of the child(ren) involved or the local authority has serious concerns and requests the involvement of Cafcass in the case. 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., Whilst you may see these roles have contractual base in our office, our teams work flexibly and remotely, your proximity to the office doesn't always have to be a critical consideration. This hopefully will allow you to work in a way that suits you best.

We provide the resources, equipment, and support, so that individually and collectively, we can be the voice of children and young people when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures. We provide extensive wellbeing support for colleagues, as well as excellent benefits, all of which we hope encourages you to work within our dedicated team.

We are Cafcass - the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service - and we represent children in family court cases in England. Independently advising the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests, we speak up for over 140,0000 children every year when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures, ensuring their needs, wishes and feelings are heard. Watch our video to find out we don't just listen to children's voices but we can be their voice.

• Relevant Social Work qualification is essential
• You must be registered with Social Work England regulator
• You'll ideally have a minimum of 3 years' experience working with children and families in a social work capacity
• Experience in Family Court proceedings and understanding of Private and/or Public Law would be an advantage
• Organised and resilient with ability to work independently and managing workload effectively