The Office of Child Services works across Alaska to support and protect children across the state. According to their website, the main goals of OCS are to give children a “healthy start, to provide them with safe and permanent homes, to maintain cultural connections and to help them realize their potential.”
This can be a hard job, according to Alaska State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. He said that the state has a problem with cases of child abuse and neglect.
“It’s been a chronic issue, unfortunately,” he said.
The issue is compounded in areas like Southeast Alaska, where there are numerous remote communities and not enough caseworkers. In Petersburg, for example, there has only been one OCS staff member responsible for the town and several surrounding islands. According to information provided by Tomkins’ office, the Petersburg office services the communities of Petersburg, Wrangell, and Kake, but they often go to other areas, as well. Tomkins said that the Petersburg office has had a high turnover rate due to stress and the scope of the job. Having to handle cases in other towns, the Petersburg office would often have to be closed while the staff member was travelling. The position was recently left vacant, leading to some concerns that the office would be closed.
Some extra help is coming to the area soon, however. According to Tomkins, the Petersburg staff position has been re-staffed and a second staff position has been created. The second OCS staff member will be able to help divide the caseload, and will also allow for the Petersburg office to remain open while the other staff member travels to other towns.
The second position has not been filled yet, but applications are being accepted. To learn more about the job, go to http://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/alaska and type “Petersburg” into the search bar. The application will close on August 13. Tomkins said that anybody who might be interested in becoming a foster family should get in contact with OCS, as well.
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