Qualified Children's Social Worker - Work to First Hearing Team

Cafcass; London; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Cafcass seeks a Qualified Children's Social Worker for the Work to First Hearing Team in London. This role emphasizes child protection and effective communication with families. Applicants must be registered social workers with a passion for advocating for children's best interests.

Benefits

Extensive wellbeing support

Hybrid working environment

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• Registered social worker with experience in child welfare.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to work independently.
• Experience with children and families in a similar role.

Responsibilities

• Conduct telephone interviews to assess cases.
• Provide evidence-based reports for court recommendations.
• Attend court hearings to represent children's interests.

Skills

Child Protection expertise

Analytical thinking

Effective communication

Education

Social Work England registration

Job description

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Qualified Children's Social Worker - Work to First Hearing Team, London

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Client:

Cafcass

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Reference:

b616428abf47

Job Views:

32

Posted:

22.06.2025

Expiry Date:

06.08.2025

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Job Description:

We are recruiting for the role of Qualified Children's Social Worker - Work to First Hearing Team in our team covering the Croydon/Grays Inn road area.

We trust and empower colleagues to work in a hybrid way, providing 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.

Whilst this role is part of a team based from our office in either Croydon or London Grays Inn Road, our teams work flexibly and remotely, your proximity to the office doesn’t always have to be a critical consideration.

We are a diverse, inclusive organisation that is a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience, which helps ensure we provide a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds. We especially welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.

We provide extensive wellbeing support for colleagues, as well as excellent benefits, all of which we hope encourages you to join us.

Let us tell you a bit more about the role…

Within the Work to First Hearing team you will play a key role in ensuring Cafcass only intervenes in the lives of those children who needs a service. This role is fast paced, draws on Child Protection expertise and requires analytical and effective risk assessment to identify key issues for the court and make safe recommendations in the best interests of the child. You will predominantly achieve this through effective telephone interviews with applicants and respondents and by assessing information received from other agencies. You will then collate this to allow you to succinctly and expertly communicate advice in the court through clear, evidence-based reports and representations, which will occasionally mean attending initial Court Hearings to ensure that children remain central to all decision making.

… and what we’re looking for.

Being a Family Court Adviser is very rewarding – but it’s not for everyone. You must be a Social Work England registered social worker who’s organised, resilient and able to work independently. Confident in your abilities, you’ll have demonstrable experience of working with children and families over a sustained period as a Social Worker, potentially supplemented from relevant experience from earlier in your career also.

You can find out more about the above - and much more - before you apply and we also recommend you read the job description.

Next steps / timelines

If and when you are ready to apply, our application process is straightforward and quick to complete. You don’t need to complete your application in a single visit, you can start it and come back and amend your responses / update your CV, just make sure you come back before the closing date to submit.

Below we have given you an indication of a timetable we are hoping to work towards, although dates are subject to change.

Initial interview:

TBC

Final Interview:

TBC

We understand that starting a new role is a big decision, and you may require further information before applying. You can find out more about the role in the Job Description and there is a wealth of information about Cafcass on our Cafcass Careers page.

If you wish to speak with a member of the team for more specific information you can either contact Anisa Awan from our HR Resourcing team if your query is HR related or to do with the recruitment process, or Louise Jones if your questions relate more to the role, providing your contact information and best times / methods to get hold of you.

Whilst we will always try and respond a.s.a.p. we wouldn’t want you to miss the closing date before we are able to. If this is the case, we recommend you apply and as part of your application you can ask questions, and this may allow us to contact you and provide you with the required information that will help you decide if you still wish to be considered.

Finally, in anticipation of your application being successful, you might want to read about the offer and pre-employment checks process. As part of your application you can highlight any concerns or questions about the pre-employment checks and we encourage all applicants to do so, safe in the knowledge such information will not be shared with individuals involved in the selection process.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Please be advised successful applicants will be subject to a range of pre-engagement checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). In accordance with the DBS code of practice and our own policy, should an individual have a declared criminal offence an individual assessment will be completed. Further information on what the assessment covers can be found by viewing the Cafcass DBS policy.