Protective Services Specialist 1/2 Fairbanks

Job Description

The Department of Family & Community Services is recruiting for Protective Services

Specialist 1/2 in Fairbanks!

This job class uses Competency Based minimum qualifications (MQs). Please read the

Competency Based MQ instructions below to learn more.

This position is open to All Applicants.

Watch Office of Children’s Services Video Here:

I AM OCS

What You Will Be Doing:

As a Protective Service Specialist (PSS), located in Fairbanks, Alaska, you will be responsible for Child Protection Services in the Family Services Unit, the Investigations & Assessment Unit, or as Generalist covering both and will be required to travel throughout the interior of Alaska approximately four times a month.

This case carrying position has a wide range of duties, including investigating reports of child abuse and/or neglect, prepare plans for intervention by soliciting the cooperation of the family and others, and gather information about family dynamics/functionality, develop plans to ensure child safety while assisting parents in addressing their diminished protective factors, place children out of the home with a relative or licensed foster home when necessary, provide ongoing and/or in-home services to families, write and submit reports to the Court, work closely with Tribal/Community Partners, frequent face-to-face and telephonic contact with parents and caregivers of children in custody and make referrals to other service providers and agencies.

OCS has opportunities across several units. During the hiring process, we work with applicants to match them with a position that best aligns with their strengths, experience, and interests.

Strong writing skills, the ability to manage your workload independently, and a collaborative approach are important in ensuring the safety and well-being of children throughout Alaska. Child protection work can involve making critical decisions in urgent situations. Staff must be prepared to respond quickly and confidently to protect children and maintain their own safety, including in situations that may involve potential physical risk.

Mission and Values/Culture:

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

Hope, Integrity, Respect and Empathy.

Benefits of Joining Our Team:

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 twelve months in the agency are probationary and considered a training period, with formal virtual training, on-the-job training with your supervisor, and with other colleagues.

While this is a field-based position that involves working in the community, part-time teleworking within the duty station may be an option upon eligibility.

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.

The Working Environment You Can Expect:

The Interior Rural Field Office serves approximately 30 rural communities in the Interior of Alaska. The home base location is in the Fairbanks Field Office which serves the Fairbanks area, North Pole, as well as surrounding communities. This requires the incumbent to travel in small aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, or small boats to remote villages, communities, or rural locations in Alaska. Some of the communities are not equipped with modern conveniences, hotels, or bed and breakfasts, thus the employee must be prepared to sleep in offices, schools, tribal community buildings, or other accommodation if overnight visit is required. Frequency of travel is expected to be 4+ times a month. There may be day trips and occasional overnight stays in rustic conditions with some exposure to extreme weather conditions in the winter. You may also have the opportunity to assist other field offices within the Northern Region for a few days on an as-needed basis.

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

Our teams are based around having a strong work ethic and high ethical standards, believing in treating all people with dignity and respect, as well as being self-motivated, organized and honest. We are all about getting the job done while still contributing to a positive, upbeat work environment.

Office of Children’s Services Staff are considered essential, so are expected to work during pandemic and other natural disasters.

Starting as a level 1 (trainee) or 2 (journey) is dependent on experience and qualification.

For information on the Fairbanks community (including schools, hospitals, housing) please review the

Alaska Community Profiles

.

Who We Are Looking For:

We are interested in candidates who possess some or all of the following position specific competencies:

Self-Management:

Sets well-defined and realistic personal goals; displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner; works with minimal supervision; is motivated to achieve; demonstrates responsible behavior.

Stress Tolerance:

Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (for example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations).

Teamwork:

Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals.

To view the general description and example of duties for the position please go to the following link:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/Alaska/classspecs

If you can imagine yourself in this role, we encourage you to apply!

Minimum Qualifications

Competency Based Minimum Qualifications Instructions

This job class uses competency based minimum qualifications.

Please ensure your application

(through work history, volunteer experience (duties summary), training, education, licenses, certifications, etc.) supports how you have gained the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (competencies) and that you possess the minimum required competencies for the job class.

Competency Description

The competency description(s) listed below have been designed to promote a common understanding of the essential elements of the job class.  They highlight the more general and customary knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), tasks, and behaviors used to describe the competency.  They typically list expectations, as opposed to specific tasks, and are to be used only as parameters and guidelines.   A competency’s description is not intended to exclusively define every KSA, task, and behavior needed to successfully meet the competency, but rather to provide the manager/agency with a broad reference of options as to how an applicant can meet the job expectation.

Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in

Analytical Thinking/Problem Solving:

Uses a logical, systematic, and sequential approach to address problems or opportunities or manage a situation by drawing on one’s knowledge and experience base and calling on other references and resources as necessary.

Customer Service

: Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or rec