Just for Kids Law

Treasurer

BRIEF

Welcome

Dear Candidate,

My fellow Trustees and I are delighted that you are considering applying for the role of Just for Kids Law (JFKL) new Treasurer of the Board.

JFKL is a unique and special charity that punches way above its weight. Lawyers, youth advocates and youth workers work together to deliver a joined-up casework model supporting children and young people to overcome a range of challenges. They might be excluded from school, facing homelessness, caught up in the bureaucracy of the care system or the immigration system or facing criminal charges having been exploited by drug gangs. They end up navigating a world where it feels as though nobody wants to listen to them or allow them to be heard. They desperately need somebody to work with and for them to stand up for their rights and hold those with power to account. That’s what we do at JFKL.

In 2020/2021 we worked with over a thousand young people mainly aged 15 to 25, primarily across London. Our evidence shows that we make a real difference with three quarters reporting that their situation has improved, they feel more confident facing problems and know more about their rights.

A recent evaluation concluded that our casework model “allowed young people to feel supported in a way they had not felt supported before by other agencies and organisations” and that young people “described the effect as lasting”.

We take the evidence from our casework to fight for reform across four areas — youth justice, school exclusion, social care and housing for older teenagers and children’s rights monitoring. We do this through challenging government in the courts, enabling young people to take the lead in campaigning and lobbying in Westminster and Whitehall.

Working as part of a skilled and committed Board, you will Chair the Finance and Risk sub-committee (with F&R owning the JFKL Risk Register). You will oversee the charity’s financial and risk management processes and maintain a strategic overview of the organisation’s financial resources.

As well as a commitment to JFKL’s strategic objectives, you will bring considerable experience of charity finance and commercial practice, possibly having worked as a Finance Director in a charity of an equivalent size. You will also be required to forge good working relations with JFKL’s Director of Finances & Resources and offer the necessary oversight support to ensure robustness of financial reporting. You will also have close working relations with myself as Chair and our Chief Executive Officer. As the vast majority of our income is from Trusts and Foundations, you will have a good understanding of fundraising and accounting for charitable funds.

You should be a good communicator and able to explain financial matters to non-experts, including trustees with recent experience as clients of JFKL.

You are joining JFKL at pivotal time as we all emerge from the pandemic — we have reviewed and revised all our systems and processes, put in place support for all our frontline staff, invested in new technology, and are developing a solid financial position. We recently approved our new 3-year Strategic Plan with a very clear direction agreed upon.

Best wishes,

Anthony Landes JFKL Chair

Wh o w e are

There are many ways that a child or young person can find themselves in trouble and not know where to turn. They might be excluded from school, facing homelessness, caught up in the bureaucracy of the care system or facing criminal charges having been exploited by drug gangs. They find themselves in situation where it feels nobody wants to listen to them or allow them to be heard. They desperately need somebody to work with and for them to stand up for their rights and hold those with power to account.

Just for Kids Law’s vision is for all children and young people in the UK to have their legal rights and entitlements respected and promoted, and their voices heard and valued. We exist to work with and for children and young people to hold those with power to account and fight for wider reform. We do this by providing legal representation and advice, direct advocacy and support, and through strategic litigation, campaigning and equipping others to work for children’s rights.

Our values are to act with integrity, respect, courage and compassion. We put these values into practice in our relationships with the children and young people we work with, our colleagues and our partner organisations.

Since we were founded in 2006, we have developed a unique model of casework. Our model is holistic, both in the way that it provides support for multiple areas of need that a young person may have, and in the way that children and young people are supported by a team of youth advocates, lawyers and youth opportunities workers who are co-located to provide a joined-up package of help.

We take evidence from this casework to fight for wider reform, bringing the voices of young people to the fore, challenging the government in the courts and lobbying in Westminster and Whitehall with a clear focus on children’s rights.

Th e difference we make

of young people reported that, since they’ve been supported by us:

Their situation has improved.

They feel more confident facing problems.

They know more about their rights.

Our data

These results are different from the satisfaction rates we have previously reported. Prior to this year, our annual client satisfaction survey showed satisfaction rates of over 90% - however this was based on a relatively small sample of up to 90 respondents who were selected for telephone interviews by the lawyers and youth advocates working with them. We have replaced this with an SMS survey sent to all young people after we have been working with them for four months. More than a third (36%) respond. This provides what we think is more transparent, robust and accurate data on the impact of our casework.

We supported these young people to address a range of needs, relating to housing, social care, education, immigration and criminal justice issues, working on 1,2 297 individual cases. Nearly a third of these were one off advice.

3 out of 4 young people reported positive change in their wellbeing after contacting us.

9 out of 10 young people reported feeling less alone when dealing with their problems after contacting us.

3 out of 4 young people reported feeling more able to speak up and express their wishes after contacting us.

In February, we published an independent evaluation of our casework model, produced by NCVO Charities Evaluation Services. Based on in-depth interviews with 16 young people and data from a client satisfaction survey completed by 32 young people, the evaluation found “strong evidence” of a number of positive outcomes for young people, including feeling supported, having consistency of support, reduced feeling of isolation and improved wellbeing. The evaluation concluded that our casework model “allowed young people to feel supported in a way they had not felt supported before by other agencies and organisations” and that young people “described the effect as lasting”.

Children and young people

worked with 7 785 children and young people, mainly in 31 London boroughs, through our casework providing youth advocacy, legal advice and representation and youth opportunities support.

Individual cases

Our St rategy

We have recently finalised our new Strategic Plan and have set out the following priorities from 2022-2025:

•

Creating a youth justice system fit for children

• Ensuring children and young people experiencing criminal exploitation are recognised as victims and supported

• Preventing school exclusion and its harmful consequences

• Supporting care experienced children and young people to secure their housing and care entitlements

• Enabling children and young people to achieve a secure immigration status and thrive in the UK

• Protecting and promoting children’s rights using human rights mechanisms.

Our strategic plan is focused on consolidation after a period of growth over recent years, expanding to develop additional complementary elements to our model to provide a more holistic service for the children who are most at risk of having their rights and entitlements denied. Over the next three years we aim to fully integrate all the elements of the Just for Kids offer to maximise our impact – for example, the evidence from our case work will inform our work to achieve strategic change and the children and young people with experience of these issues will be supported to have a voice in debates and campaign for change.

Our strategic priorities reflect work where we are already achieving impact and where we can offer something unique to fill gaps in provision or complement the work of others. It is an ambitious plan that plays to our particular strengths in recognising the interplay between the different areas of legal and social policy that present challenges for so many of our young clients.

At this stage of our maturity as an organisation we recognise that we also have more to do to develop our organisational infrastructure to provide a firm foundation for our work – improving our use of data, developing our HR systems and processes and diversifying our income streams, including exploring how we can maximise our self-generated income. We have also set ourselves ambitious targets for equality, diversity and inclusion so we are as strong internally as we are in our external work on tackling racism and injustice.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

As an organisation, we are determined to fight inequality in all forms, particularly racism. We are committed to being authentic, brave and strong, exhibiting the same determination internally that we bring to our external work. This is our ongoing commitment for the organisation; we will continually work to support our colleagues to achieve Just for Kids Law’s vision and mission while practising our values in an organisation that also supports them to feel included and belong.

• Equality: Every colleague is provided with an equal opportunity to make the most of their time and talents at Just for Kids Law; it is the right to be provided with the same key resources and supported in the same way as all other colleagues.

• Diversity: Championing and valuing the visible and invisible differences between colleagues at Just for Kids Law.

• Inclusion: a culture in which differences are valued, respected and championed. A culture in which barriers that prevent groups and individuals from participating, engaging and succeeding at Just for Kids Law are removed.

We aim for our workforce to be inclusive and representative of the diversity of the children and young people we work with and our wider community by 2030.

Our Fi nances

Our turnover has grown over the last five years, and we are now in a period of consolidating our financial position and stabilising our turnover. Around 70-80% of our income is currently through Trusts and Foundations and we are looking to diversify this over the life of our new strategic plan.

Three years ago we were fortunate to receive a one off donation from a High Net Worth individual these funds have helped ensure we are able to maintain the necessary level of reserves while allowing for planned deficits as we secure funding linked to our new strategy.

Organisation chart

Board of Trustees

CEOCompany Secretary

Programmes & Participation Directorate New Client Enquiries Youth Advocacy Youth Projects (Youth Opportunities and Youth Engagement and Participation)

Policy & Campaigns Directorate Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) Youth Justice Legal Centre (YJLC)

Legal Directorate Education & Community Care & Housing Crime Immigration Strategic Litigation School Exclusions Hub

Central Directorate Communications Finance Fundraising HR Resources

Role description

ROLE TITLE

Treasurer

ROLE SUMMARY

The Treasurer works closely with and supports the Director of Finance & Resources and also works with the CEO and the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Their role is to oversee the charity’s financial and risk management processes; monitor the charity’s income, outgoings and cash-flow forecasting; and maintain a strategic overview of the organisation’s financial resources.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leading the Board’s duty to ensure proper accounting records are kept, financial resources are controlled, and that JFKL is meeting its regulatory requirements as a charity.

• Oversee planning/budgeting processes with participation of the Board and constructively challenge where required.

• Chairing Finance and Risk sub-committees in line with its terms of reference and reporting findings/ developments back to the Board of trustees.

• Advising on the financial implications of the charity’s strategic plans, maintaining the charity’s risk register and overseeing the charity’s financial risk-management process.

• Being the point of contact for Board level liaison with external auditors on specific issues in the auditing process and making sure the Board is aware of any key issues.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

Candidates should have:

• A commitment to JFKL and an understanding of its strategic objectives and its work with children and young people.

• An accountancy qualification or an equivalent level of experience and expertise in accountancy and charity finance, possibly gained as a finance director of a medium sized charity.

• Analytical and evaluation skills, demonstrating good judgement.

• Experience in risk management.

• Knowledge of fundraising in the context of trusts and foundations.

• Understanding of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship.

• A commitment to building a diverse organisation.

• Good communication and leadership skills, including the ability to explain financial information to all trustees, including those without financial or managerial experience.

• Absolute personal and professional integrity and adhere to the Nolan Principles of Public Life.

Candidates may:

• Have relevant professional or voluntary knowledge of the work of Just for Kids Law.

• Bring lived experience of any aspects of Just for Kids Law’s work.

• Demonstrate a track record of striving for social change and greater equity, whether at a local, community or national level.

How to a pply

To apply for the role you can either upload your CV together with a supporting statement (of no more than 1000 words) onto the Prospectus website via the web link, or you can apply by post to:

Executive Search Prospectus (Head Office) 20-22 Stukeley Street Holborn, London WC2B 5LR

Please ensure that you have included a telephone number, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the recruitment timetable.

If you wish to apply using an alternative format please contact Prospectus on 020 7691 1920 or email: executive.admin@prospect-us.co.uk

Applications via the Prospectus website should be made at: https://jobs.prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/ HQ00181780

At Prospectus we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website. Please be assured that your responses are kept confidential, separate from your candidate record, are not part of any application you make, and that the consultants never see individual responses to the questionnaire.

RECRUITMENT TIMETABLE

Deadline for applications: 12 September 2022

Interviews with Prospectus: w/c 26 September 2022

Interviews with Just for Kids Law: w/c 10 October 2022

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Should you decide to make a formal application, you will receive feedback within seven working days of the closing date.

Prospectus is highly experienced at managing virtual interviews and employer interactions to ensure a comprehensive candidate experience.

QUERIES

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information or would like to have an informal discussion, please contact Alex Williams, Jess Stockford or Emily Hayman at Prospectus on 020 7691 1920, or email: alex.williams@prospect-us.co.uk jessica.stockford@prospect-us.co.uk emily.hayman@prospect-us.co.uk

CREATED