Family Court Adviser (Social Worker) - Early Intervention Team - Flexible Office Location of Reading, Oxford or Swindon
This is a {Advertised Permanent / Temporary}, {Advertised Full Time / Part Time} vacancy that will close in {x} days at {xx:xx} BST.
The Vacancy
We are recruiting for the role of Family Court Adviser (Qualified Social Worker) in our Early Intervention team covering the Reading, Oxford or Swindon 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.
While we are proud that Ofsted judged us to be ‘outstanding’ when they inspected us in early 2024, we haven’t come this far only to come this far. This outcome has energised us to just keep getting better at what we do for children and families.
You have the option to be based from our offices in Reading, Oxford or Swindon, however our teams work flexibly and remotely so 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 Early Intervention 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.
| Closing date: | Sunday 19 May 2024 at 23:59 |
| Initial interview: | Week commencing 27 May 2024 |
| Final Interview: | Week commencing 03 June 2024 |
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 our Resourcing Team at HRResourcing@cafcass.gov.uk if your query is HR related or to do with the recruitment process, or Theveshyra Fletcher (Theveshyra.Fletcher@cafcass.gov.uk) 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.
Be Their Voice
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.
If our purpose resonates with you, and you share our ambitions for children - exceptional experiences, for every child, everywhere and every time - then if you join us, you will work alongside like-minded people in a diverse, inclusive and supportive organisation.
You will be trusted to work flexibly and independently using outstanding technology (e.g. touchscreen laptops, iPhone, all with first class support, including IT Trainers) with access to substantial resources (e.g. Cafcass Library has over 27,000 resources on social work, child protection and related topics). You will also have opportunities to develop, whatever team you join, wherever you are in the country and at whatever stage you are at in your career.
Whether you join us in one of our social work roles that work directly with children and families or our corporate and business services teams who provide technology, support and expertise, you will have the chance to make a difference for children and families. You can also find out more at www.cafcass.gov.uk/careers.
Wellbeing
The wellbeing of our colleagues is something we are truly passionate about, as demonstrated by everyone having four dedicated, additional days per year when they are encouraged to spend time focusing on their health and wellbeing.
Colleagues can also have a health and wellbeing cash plan, for which Cafcass pays the basic premium (you can upgrade to include family members), which allows them to claim back some costs of routine health expenses, including dental check-ups, eye tests, physiotherapy sessions and more.
Overall, we foster a holistic approach to supporting our colleagues, benefitting physical, mental and financial health. This is led by a dedicated in-house team, the benefits of which include meaning support is targeted and specific to what colleagues need. Our team can also offer support and guidance when it comes to specific health conditions, such as neuro-diverse conditions, cancer and the menopause.
Our wellbeing offer is further strengthened by an external Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) which provides a free confidential support service 24 hours a day. This means access to clinical and professional expertise which gives you a chance to talk about all kinds of work and personal issues.
If this wasn’t enough, we are especially proud that over 125 colleagues have completed training and receive ongoing support to act as Health and Wellbeing Champions. Furthermore, we have nearly 100 people that have trained to be Mental Health Allies.
Diversity
We represent children and families from diverse backgrounds and having a diverse workforce helps us to fulfil this responsibility authentically.
It also helps us to grow, evolve and innovate, so we particularly welcome applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.
We are also a Disability Confident Leader, which further underlines our commitment to employ, train, retain and develop the careers of colleagues with disabilities.
Our Diversity Networks provide a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience – supported by allies across the organisation. The networks help ensure we provide an inclusive working environment and a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds.
Our current networks include:
Kaleidoscope Network
Colleagues from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
Mental Health Network
Colleagues who experience, or have an interest in, Mental Health issues.
Pride
Network
Colleagues who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans – LGBT+.
Neurodiversity Network
Colleagues who are neurodivergent, or support someone who is
Together
‘Together with Children and Families’ (which we just call ‘Together’) is the name of our relationship-based practice framework. It applies to the work of every individual in Cafcass, from Social Workers to Leaders and includes our Corporate and Business Support teams.
It is at the heart of what we do and is made up of our values, how these values work in practice, the tools to use to incorporate these values in our work and the impact this will have on the children and families we serve.
This framework encourages us to be pro-active and to look for the strengths in ourselves and others. It also enables us to build positive relationships with our colleagues, our partners and most importantly, with the children and families with whom we work.
We look forward to telling helping you learn more about Together should you join us.
Benefits
We know if you join us you want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, including time away from work to spend time with those important to you, manage your financial present and future, whilst also be trusted to manage your work/life balance.
Therefore, in addition to our unique, holistic approach to supporting your health and wellbeing we also provide:
Generous holidays
28 days holiday (including three for Christmas) rising to 33 days with five years continuous service, which could include your current employment. You can also buy more holiday or sell any you do not need.
This list is just a selection of main benefits and we have a range of policies and processes that allow us to support our colleagues - and their families – and we look forward to providing you with further information about these in due course.
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