John Hutchison

I began working as a Guardian ad Litem & Reporting Officer with the Inner & North London Panel of Guardians ad Litem & Reporting Officers in 1994. I am currently a self-employed guardian working on a contractual basis with the Children & Family Court Advisory & Support Service. My cases have covered Care Proceedings, Discharge of Care Orders, Adoption, Secure Accommodation and Contact Applications.

As an Independent Social Worker, I have been engaged to carry out :

Risk Assessments on long running cases.
Form F Assessments : Fostering, Domestic and Inter Country Adoption.
Kinship Care Assessments
Completing Child Permanency Reports
Assisting Local Authorities to prepare for Joint Area Reviews by auditing cases.
I work as an Independent Reviewing Officer (Annual Foster Home Reviews) for one Local Authority. During 2007, I chaired 30 reviews.
I have been appointed as an Independent Investigating Officer in Complaints made under Section 26 of the Children Act (1989). I have also acted as the Independent Person.
For the last five years, I have been an Independent Member of an Adoption Panel.
I have acted as a mentor to new Children’s Guardians.
I have recently been appointed as a Trustee of a new charitable organisation known as Nexstep. The purpose of this organisation is to provide trained and supported mentors to young people at risk of being placed in or being discharged from youth custody.
I act in a voluntary capacity as a mentor to two ‘gap year’ students working with an organisation known as KICK London. This organisation runs football academies
and is involved in outreach work in primary and secondary schools within a small geographic area.