Social Services Associate - Anchorage

Overview

This position is open to AK Residents.

Please check the residency definition to determine if you qualify. The Department of Family and Community Services, Office of Children's Services (OCS) is recruiting for a Full-Time Social Services Associate located in Anchorage, Alaska.

As a Social Services Associate, you will work closely with families and children involved with child protective services. You will be directly working with parents and children helping to provide services that will enhance families  capacities to give their children a healthy start, to provide them with safe and permanent homes, to maintain cultural connections, and to help them realize their potential.

You will be supporting professional staff by providing information for assessments, case planning and evaluation, while performing duties that can include providing parenting support during family contact to enable parents to practice parenting skills in a safe environment, accessing electronic databases, and providing necessary referrals for families to other agencies. For more information: OCS Practice Model.

The Mission of the Office of Children s Services is:
Ensuring the safety, permanency and well-being of children by strengthening families, engaging communities, and partnering with Tribes.

The Office of Children s Services strives for a diverse and inclusive workforce where safety and wellbeing are paramount and employees at all levels promote a culture where everyone is valued, treated equitably, and treated respectfully. Everything we do is underpinned by our Core Values.

The Office of Children s Services is committed to an organizational culture that values each team member. We are committed to building and sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment. We celebrate and value the diversity of our employees, partners, and families we serve. While this is a field-based position that involves working in the community, part-time telework within the duty station is an option upon eligibility.

The Office of Children’s Services Anchorage Regional Office is located in Midtown Anchorage. The working environment will consist of a typical office setting as well as regular field work throughout the community. You will travel roughly 20% to 50% of the time to multiple locations within the state, with trip lengths of up to 3 days based on the situation.

This position is critical to the office’s ability to successfully meet the department’s mission. Therefore, a successful incumbent would be highly self-motivated, have excellent, clear verbal and written communication skills, possess sound common sense and the ability to learn very quickly. The Office of Children’s Services requires staff to work after hours and on-call.

We are seeking a candidate with the following competencies:

• Interpersonal
  
  Skills:
  
  Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations; is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, disabilities, and other individual differences.
• Customer/Quality Focus:
  Anticipates, monitors, and meets the needs of customers and responds to them in an effective, appropriate manner. Demonstrates commitment to identifying customers’ apparent and underlying needs and continually seeks to provide the highest quality service and product to all customers.
• Adaptability:
  Adjusts planned work by gathering relevant information and applying critical thinking to address multiple demands and competing priorities in a changing environment.
• Computer
  
  Skills:
  
  Uses computers, software applications, databases, and automated systems to accomplish work.
• Teamwork:
  Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals.

• This position requires a…