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At RLC we don’t regard training as a luxury. We recognise that we work in a very challenging area and that it’s essential our employees are equipped and confident to meet those challenges, which at times can be tough both professionally and emotionally.
Every new Caseworker attends a structured three week Induction Training Course where our in-house legal experts deliver a thorough technical body of knowledge (and being RLC employees themselves are able to call on personal experiences).
Caseworkers are then further supported by close supervision for several months after Induction. This combination means we not only meet the needs of a variety of inductees all of whom have different backgrounds, experience and abilities but that our Caseworkers hit the ground running, prepared and confident to represent clients in the best possible way.
Training doesn’t stop after Induction and we are committed to providing ongoing training and development for employees throughout their career with us. All Caseworkers, for example, are regularly briefed and updated on changing legal requirements and also benefit from courses designed to meet specific needs.
Training for the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme
As a Caseworker, you will be required to sit for the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme, for which we’ll give you six days structured and proven training having access to both our internal legal trainers as well as external trainers who are specialists in their field.
The Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme has been developed by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) in conjunction with Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the regulatory arm of the Law Society, to assess skills and knowledge identified as being a prerequisite to acting as a Caseworker in this demanding and sensitive sector. It aims to ensure that those giving publicly funded immigration legal advice are of a suitable quality and applies to Solicitors and Caseworkers, regardless of whether they work in a solicitors’ firm or a NFP provider, if they do publicly funded work.
The Scheme was set up after the Department of Constitutional Affairs and Legal Services Commission consultation on LSC funding for Immigration and Asylum in the Summer of 2003. It was one of the measures, which also included the proposed capping of hours for Legal Help and CLR, the prohibition on attendance at interview and limits on disbursements that was supposed to address the perceived problem of spiralling Legal Aid costs from poor immigration providers.
There are three accreditation rounds that take place yearly. Under the scheme there are three types of Caseworker: probationer (Multiple Choice Test) level 1; level 2; and level 3. In addition, those accredited at level 2 or above can become Supervisors.
Suggested further reading:
www.legalservices.gov.uk/civil/immigration/accreditation.asp
www.clt.co.uk/default.aspx?id=103 www.lawsociety.org.uk/professional/accreditationpanels/lawpanel.law
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