We pay anywhere between £20ph and £65ph for a range of inputs from precis-ing local government ombudsman’s reports and writing up cases, to unravelling complicated facts and chronologies from people’s sets of documents, often in no particular order at all, and all conveyed to us through stress and frustration, and ultimately for high quality legal advice. Our service stops short of taking steps in actual litigation but we can write the necessary letter before action and letters to a council’s complaint service or to the Monitoring Officer, (if the wrongdoing is serious enough to amount to a contravention of any enactment or rule of law).
You don’t have to BE a qualified practising lawyer. We need people who already understand public law and the Care Act, however, from a perspective which we would call advice-related. So if you’ve been an Advocate, or a social worker, or an advice worker or a best interests assessor, you MAY be legally aware, or you may just cope in your day job without necessarily being knowledgeable about the legal framework. We want ACUMEN – probing skills, fact checking skills, and writing skills. All of that is easier if you at least know how the Care Act works and understand public law, we have come to accept, 4 years into the work!
If you would like to apply to be a paid case worker for CASCAIDr, please fill in the form below, with your brief cv details, and click on ‘Submit’ after providing information concisely addressing how you fulfil the criteria below.
Do not – please – just send in your standard cv – we don’t have the resources to do the applicants’ work for them, with all due respect.
Essential mix of knowledge, skills, attributes and abilities
- A demonstrable fascination with law, rights and empowering those who are disempowered
- A demonstrably deep knowledge of the Care Act (the statute and Regs) and the Mental Capacity Act
- A working knowledge of, or willingness to study, the CHC national framework
- Demonstrable knowledge of and experience in applying broader public law principles
- Strong skill and confidence in verbal and written communication
- A demonstrable ability to work on one’s own intellectual initiative, subject to loose supervision
- A demonstrable capacity for managing one’s own time/workload and competing demands – you need to be a self-starter, and able to say no to being taken off on a tangent!
- A demonstrable commitment to ongoing personal and professional development / remaining up to date with legal developments
Desirable Skills/Attributes/Experience
- Empathy and commitment
- Good listening and eliciting skills
- Analytical skills
- Concise report writing skills
- Ability to use IT to maximise efficiency
- Some sort of direct experience of working with the type of people that will need advice, support and advocacy
Desirable academic credentials and/or likely working backgrounds
- A law degree is a good starting point in a younger candidate
- A working knowledge of human rights and equalities law
- A professional qualification such as being a social worker, nurse or occupational therapist may be of use
- A qualification or CPD of any sort in mental capacity / safeguarding
- An advocacy qualification and / or experience
- A solicitor or chartered legal executive or non-practising barrister
- CABx experience in welfare related law
- A broader advice background
- A benefits advice background
- A social services complaints handling background
- Management experience in social care could be helpful as managers deal with problematic issues all the time and should have a good knowledge of the law
- Experience in social work, social care, health or perhaps housing or benefits services
- A background or qualification in counselling, if coupled with one of the above sets of knowledge….