Advice For Families Caseworker Jobs
We are looking for someone both to deliver our immigration casework and to manage and develop our immigration advice services, including recruitment, line management & supervision of relevant staff and volunteers. The post holder will provide one-to-one legal immigration advice, casework and practical support to migrant and refugee clients in Brighton & Hove and Sussex in the areas of out-of-scope immigration and occasionally asylum work (up to OISC L2). You will also provide supervision for L1 and trainee staff and volunteer advisors as required. You will share the management of our broader advice & casework team, including generalist and resettlement casework, with our current generalist and resettlement managers.
You will be accredited to provide immigration advice at minimum OISC Level 2 and expected to carry a caseload of cases largely out of the scope of legal aid. For cases within scope you will make active referrals or signpost to legal aid providers wherever possible and practical.
Along with other managers you will lead on the development of our casework management system, AdvicePro, to ensure that agreed advice and organisational outcomes are embedded from the outset, and that staff and volunteers are trained and equipped to understand and provide these. You will be required to monitor and report against projects as needed by both funders and internally for e.g. the director and trustees.
You will be expected to participate in local networks and to participate and lead on conversations to develop immigration advice capacity in the city and region and to influence change and find solutions to the critical lack of immigration advice on the south coast.
You will have an awareness of clients’ holistic needs and be able to signpost and refer both internally and externally as appropriate to address needs including destitution; asylum support; children’s, family and adult social care; welfare benefits; housing & homelessness; access to mainstream and voluntary sector services including ESOL and employability, health and mental health care; and referrals into activities and services that can respond to people’s strengths and skills as well as their needs, including our own support groups and volunteering opportunities.
You will contribute to the senior management team of Voices, working closely with the Director, Head of Services, Generalist Advice Manager and Resettlement Manager to share oversight and reflections and planning of current operational needs and strategic planning.
You will be expected to contribute to broader learning and planning around developing our strategic plan and theory of change, including developing our work on the role of those with lived experience in our organisation.
We are currently the only free, L2-accredited, year-round provider of out-of-scope immigration advice on the South Coast, and increasing local immigration capacity is critical to address growing demand and changing demographics in the region. We are also seeing and will continue to see new arrivals and needs in the region over the next year and onwards including Hong Kong BNO nationals, Afghans resettled under the ARAP and ACRS schemes, EEA nationals who still have not registered for status, people required to transition to digital eVisas by 31st December 2024, and an increasing number of both newly arrived and established asylum seekers placed in emergency (‘contingency’) and dispersal Home Office accommodation.
Regular supervisions will be provided by the Director, as well as access to external training on specific issues where needed. However you will need to be ready to step immediately into a busy advice environment with the necessary confidence, skills and knowledge both to deliver a complex caseload and to manage a new team through an important moment in the growth of our advice and caseworker service.
Postholders will need to have the right to work in the UK.
supporting refugees, asylum seekers and those with no recourse to public funds
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
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Rainbow Migration, the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system, is recruiting a Legal Officer to advise and help improve the representation of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum and help change the asylum and immigration system to one that treats everyone with compassion, dignity and respect.
We are looking for a qualified solicitor or barrister with valid practising certificate, or already accredited to Level 3 OISC, with two years’ experience in providing advice and representation in asylum including working in legal aid.
You will be responsible for the day-to-day delivery of the legal advice service. Under the guidance of our Legal Service Manager, you will also build capacity amongst legal representatives by designing and delivering training, giving second tier advice and developing and coordinating a network of practitioners working in this area. You will use the knowledge you gain in this role to help deliver Rainbow Migration’s policy work, such as inputting into policy papers and meeting with partner organisations when required.
We will also consider applications from people who do not want to do the policy elements of the job, but to instead focus on first and second tier advice. Please mention in your covering letter if you are applying for this option.
This is a unique opportunity to build on your experience as a lawyer to improve representation across the sector and create change in government policy and practice. You will be supported to develop as a specialist lawyer and in your policy skills.
Responsibilities will include:
· Deliver one-off advice to adult LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum and work with colleagues to refer them to quality legal aid and pro bono lawyers
· Provide casework assistance e.g. helping to prepare witness statements, making referrals to other specialist organisations and taking other urgent steps (whilst not representing service users or maintaining a caseload)
· Provide occasional advice (within competence) on other issues affecting asylum and partnership service users such as asylum support, legal aid, trafficking, family reunion or community care
· Deliver second tier advice to the legal representatives of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum and other charities and professionals
· Work with the Legal Service Manager to design and deliver training to lawyers, NGOs and other professionals
· Write blogs and articles on asylum and immigration policy and legislation as they apply to LGBTQI+ people
· Contribute to policy and briefing papers
· Assist with preparing guidelines and briefings for legal services and pro bono lawyers
The Legal Officer will not be providing direct legal representation of service users. However, the role includes substantive advice and casework within the scope of legal support and referrals for our service users, as well as merits testing and second tier advice.
Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can settle in the UK and lead fulfilling lives. Our values are:
· Safety: We believe everyone should be safe from persecution and safe to be themselves. We strive to create a safe workplace culture, and we place importance on the wellbeing of everyone involved with Rainbow Migration.
· Integrity: We are thorough and honest in everything we do, and we take responsibility for our actions. We want to be accountable to our communities and those who support us.
· Belonging: We welcome and include all LGBTQI+ people, and we celebrate and value their range of experience in terms of gender, religion, race, age, disability status and class. We try to remove obstacles to participation, champion equality and promote a sense of family or home through our services.
· Respect: We believe that every person is equal and deserves the same level of courtesy, care, and attention. We respect the rights, wishes and feelings of our service users, and campaign for their rights to be respected as they go through the asylum and immigration system.
At Rainbow Migration, we don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We consider all qualified applicants, consistent with any legal requirements.
We welcome applications from candidates with lived experience of going through the UK asylum or immigration system or who have been subject to immigration control. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they meet the necessary criteria in the person specification.
Owing to the nature of the work, the successful applicant will be required at the point of conditional job offer to disclose all spent and unspent criminal records and subsequently to undergo an enhanced DBS check. See our website for more information.
Contract Type: Permanent.
Hours: Full-time (35 hours per week). Working part-time or job-sharing will be considered. Occasional work in the evenings and at weekends may be required but with plenty of notice. Rainbow Migration encourages staff to maintain a good work life balance and has a TOIL system in place.
Salary: Starting at £40,175, with potential annual step increases up to £44,868 (pro-rata for part-time employees), plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. In addition to an annual step increase, the trustees consider giving a separate inflationary increase every April.
Location: Remote or from Rainbow Migration’s offices in central London. Hybrid working will also be considered. The successful candidate could work from anywhere in the UK but would be expected to occasionally travel to London and other parts of the country for meetings and events. At the time of posting this advert, none of our staff are going into the office every day. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Annual Leave: 25 days per year rising after 24 months by 1 day after each year of service to maximum of 28 days per year (pro rata if working part-time).
Benefits:
· Two days of wellbeing leave to be taken at short notice in each calendar year (pro rata for part-time staff)
· Enhanced parental leave and pay
· Full pay for jury service (up to four weeks), compassionate leave (up to two weeks) and dependents leave (up to four days, pro rata for part-time staff)
· Separate salary step and inflationary increases considered every year
· TOIL system
· Hybrid working policy, including possibility of working abroad for 10 working days (pro rata for part-time staff) each year
· Policy on staff loans or salary advances for difficult times
· Work laptop and mobile phone
· Training and learning opportunities
· Employee telephone counselling service
· Clinical supervision for staff delivering services
How to apply
Closing date: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but the first consideration of received applications will take place on 25 July.
Interview date: Interviews will be scheduled on an ongoing basis in response to applications received.
Please read the job description and person specification. If you have any questions about the role or would like to find out more before applying, then you can contact the line manager via the email in the JD.
Please send:
1. Your CV
2. A written statement (max 1,000 words). Instead of a written statement you may submit your statement by video or audio recording (max 8 minutes)
to the email address in the JD.
3. Optional: please use this link to complete a monitoring form (link in the JD)
In your statement, please:
1. Give examples of how you meet the person specification. In addition to what is on your CV, we want to hear about any relevant skills and experience that demonstrate how you meet the necessary criteria for the role, and if you meet any of the advantageous criteria. Skills and experience could be from training, volunteering, interests or life experience
2. Confirm if you wish to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 (physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ effect on your ability to do normal daily activities)
3. State how many hours a week you wish to work and if you have a preferred pattern, or if you are applying as part of a job-share
4. If you do not want to do the policy elements of the job and instead focus on first and second tier advice, please mention this.
By submitting an application, you:
1. Confirm that you have the right to work in the UK and will produce the necessary documentation if you are offered this post.
2. Declare that to the best of your knowledge and belief, the information provided with your application is true and correct and that you understand that any false information or statement given will justify the dismissal from Rainbow Migration if appointed.
3. Accept that, if successful, you will be required to disclose all spent and unspent criminal records at the point of conditional job and subsequently to undergo an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.
We are proud to be a member of the Experts by Experience Employment Network (please see the JD for web address), which aims to create a charitable sector that is led by people with lived experience of the asylum and immigration system. As part of this network, we challenge the one-size-fits-all approach in our employment practices, and respect personal circumstances and needs of people with lived experience. Please feel free to use information and resources at the website in the JD which may help in preparing your job application.
Privacy notice
If you apply for this role, the information you provide will be processed according to Rainbow Migration's privacy policy (link in the JD). Rainbow Migration will not share your information with any third parties unless part of the recruitment process or are legally required to do so. By applying, you are permitting Rainbow Migration to access and use the information for recruitment purposes. Rainbow Migration will store your data for 12 months after the conclusion of the recruitment campaign. Monitoring information is kept separately and is pseudonymised to avoid identification of applicants. It is amalgamated for statistical purposes and the original data is then deleted after six months.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
As one of our Grants & Services Officers, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring that grant applications are processed efficiently and applicants are dealt with holistically, compassionately and professionally.
As we help record numbers of people, the successful candidate will be required to:
Deal with applicant enquiries
- Ensure a pleasant, helpful and empathetic welcome to applicants who contact the Charity by email, web form, grant application or telephone.
- Provide guidance to applicants in relation to the Charity’s grants criteria, services and process, ensuring they understand how to apply and that their request fits within our criteria.
- Identify any potential safeguarding concerns at an early stage, escalating appropriately
Process applications and referrals to services in a timely manner
- Verify that applicants are eligible beneficiaries and meet the Charity’s criteria.
- Prioritise any applications with particularly urgent requests
- Check that each application is complete and follow up with applicants as required to ensure all information and supporting documents have been submitted.
Provide guidance and information to applicants
- Provide clear guidance to applicants throughout the application process.
- Inform applicants of other potential sources of help and support
- Respond to applicant queries quickly and accurately throughout the application process.
Recommend appropriate grant decisions
- Prepare objective, non-judgemental reports for each case, with appropriate, clear recommendations in line with the grants policy.
- Consider if cases should be referred to Senior Management or Trustees, in line with the existing Grant Making Policy.
To be considered for this position with great scope for growth and development potential, applicants should demonstrate:
- Previous experience within a grant-making role or proven knowledge of the grant-making / benevolent sector.
- Proven experience of providing help and guidance, predominately over the phone and via email, offering support to applicants throughout the grant making process, and other sources of potential help.
- Previous experience of using databases / CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce).
- Ability to interpret grant criteria effectively and make clear decisions.
If you are looking for an environment where you will be nurtured through our strong commitment to staff development (alongside an excellent package of benefits including generous annual leave including your birthday off), then we’d love to hear from you.
We operate a 'mixed-mode' working model, where staff work both from home and from our spacious offices in Westminster with an average of one day per week in our Westminster office.
Clergy Support Trust is an inclusive and supportive organisation. We warmly welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, and believe a diverse workforce leads to fresh ideas and creative thinking.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.