Address
Form of work
SalaryThis 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 a full-time Protective Service Specialist 4 located in
Anchorage, Alaska.
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 a full-time Protective Service Specialist 4 located in
Anchorage, Alaska.
What you will be doing
The Protective Services Specialist 4 (PSS 4) is a supervisory level position that is responsible and oversees child protection services in the Family Services or Investigation and Assessment units. This position is the bridge between management and line staff, while also acting as a resource within the office and community. This position works closely with Tribal partners and community leaders, and serves as a liaison with other agencies. This position carries the responsibility of coaching staff, ensuring child safety and services that aligns with the policy and procedures of the agency along with ensuring the values and principals of the Office of Children's Services are met.
Our organization, mission and culture
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 (Download PDF reader).
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 (Download PDF reader).
Benefits of joining our team
By joining our amazing, innovative team you will be working with a group of professionals who engage, collaborate, strengthen, and partner with tribes, communities, and families to ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of children. You will have opportunity to widen your experience through provided training, career advancing development, and hone your skills to build knowledge and competencies in new areas.
Full-time benefits of this position include but are not limited to: Insurance Benefits; Retirement Benefits; Paid Leave; and eleven paid holidays per year. Please see the benefits tab on this posting for more information.
Working environment you can expect
This position is located in Anchorage but will require occasional travel to Bethel. The Western Region Office of Children's Services is centralized in Bethel, Alaska with two operational field offices in the communities of Aniak and St. Mary's. Our offices provide both family and community services to over 60 communities within and surrounding the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The Alaska's bush communities are unique and remote and are not connected by a road system.
The Bethel Field Office is located at AVCP's Regional Housing Authority Building on Ptarmigan Street. This is one of the most modernized offices with a splendid view facing the center of Bethel.
For information on the community or communities (including schools, hospitals, housing) please review the Alaska Community Profiles.
We are seeking a candidate with the following competencies:
- Decision Making: Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
- Flexibility: Is open to change and new information; adapts behavior or work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles; effectively deals with ambiguity.
- Leadership: Influences, motivates, and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.
- Stress Tolerance: Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (for example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations).
- Team Building: Inspires and fosters team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. Facilitates cooperation and motivates team members to accomplish group goals.
Special Note
- All positions require a valid Alaska driver's license and successful completion of a background investigation, including fingerprinting and a criminal records check.
- Additionally, while the Division does have vehicles assigned to it, they may not always be available for staff use. Mileage reimbursement is available when a personal vehicle is used for work-related matters. Current automotive insurance must be in place prior to use of a personal vehicle while conducting business on behalf of the State.
- For positions in this job class, a child protective history check will be performed per AS 12.62.160 and/or 13 AAC 68.315 including a background and fingerprint check.
- The successful candidate may be required to attend multiple training courses normally located in Anchorage.
A cover letter is NOT required for this position. Your complete application, including supplemental questions, will be used to determine which applicants will advance to the interview phase of the recruitment and selection process.
To view the general description and example of duties for a Protective Services Specialist 4 please go to the following link: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/Alaska/classspecs
Minimum Qualifications
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.
- Integrity/Honesty: Behaves in an honest, fair, and ethical manner. Shows consistency in words and actions. Models high standards of ethics.
- 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.
- Oral Communication: Makes clear and convincing oral presentations. Listens effectively; clarifies information as needed.
- Writing: Recognizes or uses correct English grammar, punctuation, and spelling; communicates information (for example, facts, ideas, or messages) in a succinct and organized manner; produces written information, which may include technical material, that is appropriate for the intended audience.
- Technical Credibility: Understands and appropriately applies principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise.
- Developing Others: Develops the ability of others to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods.
- Influencing/Negotiating: Persuades others; builds consensus through give and take; gains cooperation from others to obtain information and accomplish goals.
Training in a social science, behavioral science, health science, guidance and counseling, or a closely related field and/or progressively responsible professional experience providing assistance, information or referrals to the general public related to social services, health care, or legal services; in child, adult, family, or group case management, licensing, or probation services; or providing care or services to delinquent juveniles.
“Typically gained by” means the prevalent, usual method of gaining the competencies expected for entry into the job.
“Training” and “education” in this guidance are synonyms for the process of acquiring knowledge and skills through instruction. It includes instruction through formal and informal methods (such as classroom, on-line, self-study, and on-the-job), from accredited and unaccredited sources, and long-duration (such as a post-secondary degree) and short-duration (such as a seminar) programs.
“Progressively responsible” means indicating growth and/or advancement in complexity, difficulty, or level of responsibility.
“Professional experience” means work that is creative, analytical, evaluative, and interpretive; requires a range and depth of specialized knowledge of the profession's principles, concepts, theories, and practices; and is performed with the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment.
Special Note:
Some positions require a valid Alaska driver's license and/or a background investigation including fingerprinting. These requirements will be indicated at the time of recruitment.
Additional Required Information
At time of interview applicant is requested to submit:
- A copy of academic transcripts (unofficial are acceptable but must include the institution name/URL on documents provided) if required to meet minimum qualifications.
- A list of three (3) professional* references including daytime telephone numbers and email address; at least two (2) of these must be from a current or former supervisor.
- Professional is defined as a supervisor or an individual who has direct knowledge of your work performance.
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS
For your application to be evaluated you must answer the Supplemental Questions. Be specific in your answers and tell us how you acquired the relevant experience. Please use complete sentences and proof-read your submissions when answering the supplemental questions. Your responses will be considered a writing sample and will be used to determine which applicants will advance to the interview phase of the recruitment process.
EDUCATIONFor your application to be evaluated you must answer the Supplemental Questions. Be specific in your answers and tell us how you acquired the relevant experience. Please use complete sentences and proof-read your submissions when answering the supplemental questions. Your responses will be considered a writing sample and will be used to determine which applicants will advance to the interview phase of the recruitment process.
To verify education being used to meet the required minimum qualifications, you must fill in the Education section of the application. If you have not obtained a degree, please indicate the number of units completed. Copies of transcripts are required to verify educational credentials being used to meet the minimum qualifications for a position and are required with each application. (Unofficial are okay, please ensure that the institution/URL name is listed on the transcripts). Transcripts can be attached at the time of application, provided at the time of interview or if not provided, transcripts will be required prior to appointment.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above requirements, if applicable. If utilizing this education you must show that the education credentials have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and that such education has been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs; or an accredited U.S. state university reports the other institution as one whose transcript is given full value, or full value is given in subject areas applicable to the curricula at the state university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Omission of required documentation listed will result in an incomplete application and you will not receive further consideration.
NOTE:The State of Alaska does not provide VISA Employer sponsorships.
WORK EXPERIENCE
When using work experience not already documented in your application, please provide the employer name, your job title, dates of employment, and whether full-or part-time. Applications will be reviewed to determine if the responses are supported and minimum qualifications are clearly met. Work experience needed to meet the minimum qualifications must be documented in the application. If the application does not support minimum qualifications, the applicant may not advance to the interview and selection phase of the recruitment. A resume will not be used to determine that minimum qualifications have been met for the position in which you are applying.
If you are currently or previously been appointed to a flexibly staffed position please ensure your work experience within a flexibly staffed position indicates the actual dates employed at each level. Ensure your time and any subsequent flex promotion(s) are documented as a separate position. This is required as there are minimum qualifications that require experience at a particular level in which the lower level may not be considered. If this information is not accurately reflected in your application this may cause the processing of your application for consideration to be delayed.
NOTE: Attaching a resume or curriculum vitae is not an alternative to filling out the application in its entirety. Noting "see resume or CV" or any similar response on any portion of your application may lead to a determination your application is incomplete and removal from consideration for this job posting.
LEGAL EMPLOYMENT
The State’s online recruitment system, Workplace Alaska, requires applicants to certify that they have a legal right to accept employment in the United States. It is the responsibility of the employee to maintain the appropriate documentation to accept or continue legal employment. The State of Alaska does not function in the role as an employer sponsor.
RECRUITMENT SCOPE
This position is open to Alaska Residents only. Please check our residency definitionto determine if you qualify.
MULTIPLE VACANCIES
This recruitment may be used for more than one (1) vacancy. The applicant pool acquired during this recruitment may be used for future vacancies for up to ninety (90) days after this recruitment closes. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply to each recruitment notice to ensure consideration for all vacancies.
APPLICATION NOTICE
You can ONLY apply for this position through the Workplace Alaska website or via hardcopy application. If you accessed this recruitment bulletin through a job search portal such as AlaskaJobs or any other database, you MUST use a Workplace Alaska online or hardcopy application to successfully apply. Instructions on how to apply with Workplace Alaska may be found on the Workplace Alaska "How to Apply" webpage, found here: http://doa.alaska.gov/dop/workplace/help/
NOTICE
Questions regarding the application process can be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 800-587-0430 (toll free) or (907) 465- 4095. If you choose to be contacted by email,please ensure your email address is correct on your application and that the spam filter will permit email from the 'govermentjobs.com' domains. For information on allowing emails from the 'governmentjobs.com' domains, visit the Lost Password Help page located at https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword.
EEO STATEMENT
The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with disabilities, who require accommodation, auxiliary aides or services, or alternative communication formats, please call 1-800-587-4095 in Juneau or TTY: Alaska Relay 711 or 1-800-770-8973 or correspond with the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations at: P. O. Box 110201, Juneau, AK 99811-0201. The State of Alaska is an equal opportunity employer.
WORKPLACE ALASKA APPLICATION QUESTIONS & ASSISTANCE
Questions regarding application submission or system operation errors should be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 1-800-587-0430 (toll free) or (907) 465-4095 if you are located in the Juneau area. Requests for information may also be emailed to recruitment.services@alaska.gov.
For applicant password assistance please visit:https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword
Contact Information
For specific information in reference to the position please contact the hiring manager at:
Name: Krystine Tinker, Administrative Officer 1
Phone: (907) 543-3141
Fax: (907) 543-9559
Email:krystine.tinker@alaska.gov
Careers with the State of Alaska offer MANY benefits
The following information describes typical benefits available to employees of the State of Alaska. Actual benefits received may differ by bargaining unit or branch of government, position type, or be prorated for other than full time work.
For a quick breakdown of the insurance, health, and retirement benefits available for State Employees you can view an orientation video from Division of Retirement and Benefits. (Please note this video is specifically designed for new State Employees.)
Insurance Benefits
- Health insurance, which includes employer contributions toward medical/vision/dental
- The following employee groups are under AlaskaCare Benefits administered by the State: See https://drb.alaska.gov/help/plans.html for additional information.
- AVTEC
- Confidential
- Correctional Officers
- Marine Engineers
- Mt. Edgecumbe Teachers
- Supervisory
- Unlicensed Vessel Personnel/Inland Boatman's Union
- Exempt employees (not covered by collective bargaining)
- The following employee groups are covered by Union health trusts. Contact the appropriate Union for additional information.
- General Government
- Labor, Trades and Crafts
- Public Safety Employees Association
- Masters, Mates & Pilots
- The following employee groups are under AlaskaCare Benefits administered by the State: See https://drb.alaska.gov/help/plans.html for additional information.
- Employer paid Basic Life insurance with additional coverage available (amount depends on Bargaining Unit)
Optional Insurance Benefits
- Group-based insurance premiums for
- Term life (employee, spouse or qualified same sex partner, and dependents)
- Long-term and short-term disability
- Accidental Death and Dismemberment
- Long-term care (self and eligible family members)
- Supplemental Survivor Benefits
- Employee-funded flexible spending accounts for tax savings on eligible health care or dependent care expenses
Retirement Benefits
- Membership in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)/Teachers' Retirement System (TRS)
- Matching employer contribution into a defined contribution program (new employees)
- Employer contribution into a defined benefit or defined contribution program (current employees)
- Contributions to the Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan in lieu of contributions to Social Security
- Option to enroll in the Alaska Deferred Compensation Program
- Note: The Defined Contribution Plan, Supplemental Annuity Plan and Deferred Compensation Program offer a variety of investment options
See https://drb.alaska.gov/retiree/ for additional information
Paid Leave & Other Benefits- Personal leave with an accrual rate increase based on time served
- Eleven paid holidays a year
