Kinship Care Legal Lead

Currently, our advice service refers kinship carers to other providers for specialist legal advice on issues such as:

• the legal status of kinship care arrangements
• applying for special guardianship orders in public and private proceedings
• child arrangements orders
• discharging or varying legal orders
• contact issues
• care and support plan disputes
• testamentary guardianship
• entitlement to legal aid

We have created this role to develop our own in-house legal advice offer. We envisage the post-holder undertaking a mix of one-off legal advice to individuals and strategic casework aimed at changing policy and practice for all kinship carers. The role will also involve some supervision of casework undertaken by our senior advice workers and working with colleagues to ensure the accuracy of legal content and resources developed for our advice team, website and training courses.

Importantly, the postholder will have the opportunity to shape the role to best meet the needs of Kinship and kinship carers. There are many things the role could do, but we will need to be strategic in how we use this limited resource, the types of cases we take on, the depth of advice and assistance we provide, and when to refer cases out to other legal services providers.

Advice provision

• Provide high-quality, people-centred, specialist legal advice and assistance to kinship carers in England and Wales on kinship care law-related matters.
• Provide written and oral advice as appropriate through a range of delivery channels.
• Address all safeguarding concerns in line with policy.
• Refer kinship carers to other sources of help, for example further legal assistance, children’s services, mediation, or other advice and information services.
• Ensure impartiality and confidentiality when dealing with carers.

Casework and case management

• Contribute to the development of the service’s legal casework strategy.
• Undertake casework and strategic casework as appropriate and agreed, including assessing and researching individual cases, identifying possible courses of action, and advocating on carers’ behalf, for example, by writing letters or making phone calls.
• Accurately record all case information in Salesforce in line with service framework and data protection requirements.

Service development

• Working with the Advice Service Manager, lead the development of Kinship’s legal offer to kinship carers, with consideration of kinship carers’ legal needs, regulatory compliance, risks (for example, as a sole solicitor), and how best to use available resources to achieve impact.
• Provide support, resources and training to colleagues in the advice team to support the development of the team’s legal knowledge.
• Build effective joint-working and referral relationships with other legal services working in the field of kinship care law.
• Contribute specialist knowledge and insight to funding proposals and monitoring and evaluation reports.

Regulation, quality and performance

• Adhere to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority’s Standards and Regulations, including the Code of Conduct for Solicitors, which governs ethical behaviour, client care, confidentiality, and conflict management.
• Ensure our legal service is compliant with all relevant regulatory requirements.
• Work closely with the senior advice workers/quality manager to oversee the quality of legal advice and casework undertaken by the advice team.
• Respond to all kinship carers in line with Kinship’s advice service framework and standards.
• Meet performance targets as directed.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation and caselaw; and changes to relevant policies and guidance.
• Actively contribute to delivering and evidencing a high performing service.

Collaboration within Kinship

• Work with our policy and campaigns team to identify opportunities for influencing policy and practice through strategic casework, litigation, policy work or campaigning.
• As the subject matter expert, support colleagues in our training and digital and content teams to develop legally accurate content and resources.
• Work with the research and practice team to shape reports and research relating to legal support.
• Proactively update colleagues across Kinship on relevant updates in law, guidance and practice and contribute to our Editorial Board.
• Act as media spokesperson and represent Kinship at meetings and events in relation to legal issues.

Legal qualifications and accreditation

The successful candidate will have:

• a Law Degree (LLB) or equivalent and completion of the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
• admission to the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales with a valid practising certificate issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

Experience

The successful candidate will need:

• a minimum of 3 years post-qualification experience (PQE) in child law, family law, or closely related fields
• experience providing legal advice to vulnerable individuals on cases involving:
  • care proceedings
  • child protection and safeguarding issues
  • private law disputes regarding child arrangements
• experience in both private and public law child-related cases
• experience in providing legal advice to kinship carers
• experience in legal aid processes and knowledge of funding options for clients
• experience of giving both telephone and written advice
• familiarity with managing conflicts of interest
• working knowledge of case management software/systems
• working experience of safeguarding practice and decision making

Skills and abilities

The successful candidate will have:

• the ability to provide clear, accurate, and practical legal advice tailored to the individual circumstances of vulnerable people
• strong research skills to interpret and apply evolving laws and policies
• the ability to communicate complex legal concepts clearly and sensitively to people who may have little or no legal knowledge
• strong written skills to prepare concise and well-drafted advice, correspondence, and legal documents
• capacity to manage a varied and potentially high caseload while maintaining attention to detail
• strong organisational skills to prioritise tasks effectively, meet deadlines, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• the ability to balance the duty of confidentiality with the need to escalate safeguarding concerns when necessary
• the ability to ensure documentation and record-keeping meet both legal and organisational standards
• excellent written, verbal and visual communications with attention to detail, representing Kinship with conviction and professionalism
• the ability to work collaboratively and be confident to both draw on the expertise of colleagues and to share your own expertise
• confidence in using digital tools, and an ability to learn new tools

Desirable, but not essential, criteria include:

• accreditation under the Law Society’s Children Law Scheme or equivalent scheme
• experience in providing advice to individuals in related areas of law, e.g. social welfare law, education law, community care law or public law
• experience representing clients in court or tribunals, especially in child law cases
• experience in challenging local authorities when kinship carers are entitled to financial support
• previous experience working for or with a charity or social justice-focussed organisation
• experience in developing public legal information and resources and delivering workshops or training sessions to raise awareness of child law issues
• lived experience of kinship care
• experience using Salesforce within a service environment
• expertise in the key areas of law that affect kinship carers, including:
  • Children Act 1989 – Child Arrangements Orders, Special Guardianship Orders, Parental Responsibility, public law proceedings (e.g. care proceedings), Fostering Regulations
  • Local Authority Duties and Support under Section 17 and Section 20 of the Children Act 1989
  • Financial and Practical Support for Kinship Carers
  • Family Law and Court Processes
  • Public Law and Judicial Review
• an understanding of legal and regulatory requirements relating to legal services operating in a charity with a sole solicitor