“VACFSS has one foot grounded in tradition and culture with another striding forward toward a great future for Aboriginal people. Join us.”
– Paul Hucul, Acting CEO and Human Resources Manager
Vancouver Aboriginal Child & Family Services Society(VACFSS) is a non-profit society providing service to urban Aboriginal children and families living in the Greater Vancouver area. We function across three offices as the largest designated urban Aboriginal agency in Canada.
Our vision is a balanced and harmonious Aboriginal community and we strive to both culturally and spiritually strengthen Aboriginal families through holistic service delivery. We honour the traditions and wisdom inherent in the Aboriginal community. This value is paramount in our work to create a stronger community through partnerships with other service providers and by connecting with community resources.
VACFSS has been a child and family serving agency since our incorporation in 1992. We are continuing to transform our services to make them more grounded within our history and to reflect diverse cultures of the clients we serve. With the transfer of child protection services from the Ministry and Children and Family Development (MCFD) in 2008, we continue to focus on better outcomes for the children and families we serve. We are experiencing a tremendous period of growth during this exciting time for Aboriginal people in BC and are thrilled to engage more students in our agency.
Laurence Wilson of the Nisga'a Nation designed the VACFSS logo in 1993. The translation for the logo is "Human and Wolf Child." As the wolf represents family, this is a perfect symbol for our agency, which has been established to strengthen Aboriginal families.
We aspire to provide VACFSS with a highly skilled and truly diverse work force characterized by honesty, integrity, compassion, caring, and commitment to the Society’s work of providing outstanding and responsive care to Aboriginal children, youth, and families. More than half of the employees at VACFSS are Aboriginal and we pride ourselves on our commitment to Aboriginal culture in both our everyday work and the structural policy that provides the backbone to our professional service.
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As a social service agency, VACFSS primarily employs social workers and clinical counselors who hold experience in family care and culturally relevant knowledge. At a minimum, potential incoming employees require a Bachelor in Social Work degree. SFU provides various credit courses which can be taken in the first and second year of school prior to transferring to a program specifically geared towards working in the field of social work. Practicum recruits at VACFSS are third and fourth year BSW university students.
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Each summer, VACFSS consistently seeks to fill the post of Communications and Public Relations Assistant through the Co-operative Education Program at SFU. This eight month placement (May to January) is under the mentorship and supervision of the Communications and Public Relations Associate and consists of all tasks at the frontlines of the agency’s internal and external engagements. This includes: media monitoring and relations, communications strategy development and implementation, graphic design, writing, editing, event planning and more.
Additionally, there are various other departments that help form the smooth function of VACFSS. These include Information Technology, Finance, Human Relations, Communications, and Administration.
Check out vacfss.com or contact the Human Resources department, attn: Ms Lillian Antelope, Human Resources Advisor, at Lillian_antelope@vacfss.com.
We look forward to meeting you and wish you all the best in your studies!
