Social Services Associate Wasilla​/Valdez; PCN

Position Eligibility

This position is open to Alaska Residents only.

Please check our residency definition to determine if you qualify.

The Department of Family and Community Services, Office of Children’s Services (OCS) is recruiting for full‑time Social Services Associate (SSA).

Office locations:
Wasilla or Valdez, Alaska.

Social Services Associate is a paraprofessional which bridges administrative with case support tasks primarily for the Valdez and Gakona field offices and will lend support to other field offices as necessary.

This position will either be in the Valdez or Wasilla field office, depending on the location of the selected candidate. You will be supporting professional staff by gathering 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 information to professional staff to make necessary referrals for families to other agencies.

As a Social Services Associate you will work with families 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. The successful incumbent will be courteous, professional in language and presentation, calm, motivated, efficient, and have strong critical thinking skills.

This position will require travel to provide support, escorting clients, etc. for other field offices as needed.

The Office of Children’s Services requires staff to work overtime when deemed necessary. OCS Staff are considered essential, so are expected to work during pandemic and other natural disasters. The agency also supports healthy work/life balance for all staff.

For more information: OCS Practice Model.

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.

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.

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.

Your first 6 months in the agency are probationary and considered a training period, with formal and on‑the‑job training with your supervisor and your colleagues.

Full‑time benefits of this position include but are not limited to: insurance benefits; retirement benefits; paid leave; and twelve paid holidays per year. Please see the benefits tab on this posting for more information.

This position will be located in either Wasilla or Valdez, depending on the location of the selected candidate. OCS staff are considered essential and are required to work after hours, on‑call hours, through pandemics‑ natural disasters, and all holidays that land on their rotational work week.

The work we perform is critical and significantly impacts the communities we serve. As a result, the Office of Children’s Services works on evenings and weekends as well as weekdays, so overtime and on‑call work are expectations of our workers.

Travel varies based on case‑work or regional needs. Once every 3 months, up to a week at a time within the Southcentral region of Alaska. Travel to villages or cities for placement or visitation varies based on regional needs. Travel in outlying areas may involve small aircraft. Dependent on case‑work needs, some travel may require overnight stays. You will be required to have a valid Real  traveling.

For…