At Cafcass we know why you became a Social Worker. To make a difference.  We know you want to spend time on the parts of your work that really enable that to happen.  We also understand you want support to continue your professional development while having a healthy work life balance.

This understanding helped us build working practices that contributed to OFSTED rating us as "outstanding" when they recently inspected us and why we are a recent winner of the Social Work Employer of the Year award and multiple other accolades around flexible working and healthy and wellbeing too. 

Our Social Workers are called Family Court Advisers. They advise the Family Court as children and families go through significant events including care proceedings, adoption and parental separation. 

We are recruiting for both our Early Intervention Team (EIT) and  Work After First Hearing Team (WAFH) so let us help you understand the key differences in what the team does.

Within EIT you will work with families up to and including their initial appearance in Family court. You will be drawing on your experience and analytical and risk assessment skills to answer the question "What does this mean for the child and what needs to happen now to achieve a safe and positive outcome for them?"

The EIT is the front door to our services ensuring Cafcass only intervenes in the lives of those children who needs a service. The service is fast paced, energetic, drawing on Child Protection expertise, analytical risk assessment, identifying key issues for the court and making safe recommendations in the best interests of the child.

You will predominantly achieve this by conducting effective telephone interviews with applicants and respondents and 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.

The WAFH team - as the name suggests - start to work with services users after the first hearing and in this team you will use your social work skills and experience to understand what the child needs, wants and feels. Then you will advise the Family Courts on the best course of action for the child by providing confident, powerful and succinct written case analysis and make recommendations to the court.  You’ll also attend court and be an advocate for the best interests of the child, ensuring their voice is not lost.

Whichever team you join us in, as well as the trust we place in you as a professional, you will be given the technology to work flexibly in court, at home and, of course, with children and families.

As you can imagine our work is demanding. So to be considered for such a privileged, responsible role of being the voice of some of the most vulnerable children in England, there are a few things we're looking for from you:

Qualified Social Worker with at least 3 years experience Registered with the HCPC as a Social Worker in England Experienced at working with highly vulnerable children and families An expert in safeguarding, child engagement, inter-agency working, case analysis, planning and recording.  

We also think you for you to succeed and truly make a difference you should be someone who;

• Is resilient and organised Can work proportionately
• Has strong, intuitive IT skills Is an effective verbal and written communicator  

Now we've told you about the role we hope you're ready to complete our short application process, including providing us with your current CV. Before you do, let us outline some of the benefits you'll be eligible for should you join us;

• Competitive salary
• Generous holiday entitlement
• Membership of a Local Government Pension Scheme
• Potential to bring your continuous service with you providing enhanced benefits
• Health & Wellbeing support including Healthcare Scheme Membership
• Payment of HCPC fees
• Cycle to Work Scheme  

We hope you’ve decided this is a role you would like, if so click through to complete our short application process to let us know of your interest in this role.