Legal Access Volunteer Caseworker - Public Law Team

A fantastic opportunity to build knowledge of the UK asylum system, gain experience of casework and deliver an essential service to asylum seekers. 

About the team:

The Public Law team operates within our Legal Access Department, which works to support clients navigating the complex and often traumatic asylum system in the UK. The Public Law team's main focus is on challenging issues relating to Home Office-provided accommodation. To date, we have supported hundreds of asylum seekers housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland and at former MoD site RAF Wethersfield. We provide one-to-one casework for individuals accommodated at these sites, gathering information to support a transfer request to more suitable accommodation, and gathering data and evidence for wider legal challenges to the Home Office’s use of these sites. We believe that large, remote sites of this kind are fundamentally unsuitable for accommodation of asylum seekers.

As part of this team, you will be able to support clients independently and manage your own time and caseload, while also working as part of a team towards the same goal. If you thrive in a collaborative environment and are looking for a role where you can make a real difference, please apply!

Role description

Responsibilities:

• Supporting people seeking asylum to understand the process and ensuring that they are able to make their own, informed choices. 

• Attend induction, ongoing training and keep up to date with resources and procedure to ensure you can carry out the role effectively and efficiently.

• Working independently and managing your time, sometimes working to tight deadlines

• Taking on new cases each week, whilst also providing ongoing support to existing clients

• Sorting and organising client’s paperwork and accurately maintaining client records

• Liaising with other professionals including lawyers, Migrant Help, and other C4C teams

• Understand the remit of the role, we do not give legal advice, we are a referral mechanism

• Following safeguarding procedures and reporting safeguarding incidents appropriately

We kindly ask that you volunteer a minimum of eight hours per week with this team to ensure that our clients receive the best possible service. Your volunteering hours will be flexible and can be adapted to fit your schedule. 

Person specification:

Essential:

• Ability to use spreadsheets, Google Workspace, messaging platforms and secure databases.

• Proven dedication to social justice with a clear understanding of the challenges faced by vulnerable populations, or a willingness to learn about these. 

• Ability to work sensitively with a diverse range of clients, demonstrating cultural competence, respect and compassion.

• Experience in efficiently managing high volume caseloads while maintaining a high standard of care and attention.

• Resilience in the face of challenging and emotionally demanding situations, with a positive and solution-oriented mindset.

• Proactive and self-motivated, with the ability to take initiative.

• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, including the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely to people who do not have English as their first language, working alongside interpreters to ensure clients understand the process

• Meticulous attention to detail in documentation and case records, ensuring accuracy and compliance with protocols. 

• Professional and dedicated to ensure that the best interests of the clients and Care4Calais are represented at all times

Desirable: 

• Proficiency in one or more of the languages spoken within asylum seeking communities, such as but not limited to: Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, Dari, Kurdish Sorani, Tigrinya, Amharic.

Care4Calais is dedicated to cultivating a diverse and inclusive work environment and recognises that this is invaluable to our ability to serve the communities we support. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from diverse backgrounds including from Black, Asian and Minority-Ethnic communities, people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, and people with lived experience of the UK immigration system.