Pamela Twiss joined the MSW faculty at Carlow in the fall of 2021. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Department of Social Work, which includes a CSWE-accredited BSW Program and a CSWE-accredited MSW Program; she currently teaches in the MSW Program. Her prior tenure track appointments were at Marywood University’s School of Social Work, West Chester University of PA’s Department of Social Work, and California University of PA’s (PennWest’s) Department of Social Work. Her primary teaching areas are in macro social work, particularly policy, social work research and program evaluation related to people who experience poverty, unemployment, and other vulnerabilities. In the practice arena, her focus is on community practice, especially community development and housing. Her research has been focused on housing and community development and policy in these areas, including work on U.S. military housing and rural housing in the Appalachian region. You can find work she has done published in Social Service Review, the Journal of Appalachian Studies, Social Work in Education, and the Journal of Contemporary Rural Social Work. In 2018, she co-authored a book on US policy on homelessness with Elizabeth Beck. She is currently engaged in updating research done with Dr. James Martin on U.S. military housing. She recently completed a community-based planning grant funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission focused on addressing gaps in services and supports for people recovering from substance use disorder seeking to enter or re-enter the workforce.

Education

  • PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (1993)
  • MSW, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (1987)
  • BA, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA (1980)

Professional Memberships

  • Council on Social Work Education
  • National Association of Social Workers
  • Association for Community Organization and Social Action

Research

Interests: Housing and Community Development; Poverty and Associated Problems

Publications

  • Twiss, P. C., & Martin, J. A. (under agreement). Military housing. In K. B. Anacker, A. T. Carswell, S. D. Kirby, & K. R. Tremblay, Introduction to housing (3rd ed.). Routledge.
  • Twiss, P. C. (2019). Rural social work and environmental justice. Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal, 11(1), Article 11.
  • Creadick, A., Edwards, G. T., Schumann, W., Twiss, P., & Wilhelm, R. (Fall 2018/Winter 2019). Going meta: A roundtable discussion of Studying Appalachian Studies. Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, 46 (1-2), 54-69.
  • Beck, E., & Twiss, P. C. (2018). The homelessness industry: A critique of social policy. Lynn Rienner.
  • Twiss, P. C., & Obermiller, P. J. (Spring/Summer 2014). “Civilians came second”: The impact of World War II defense plants on African American and Appalachian neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, 41(3-4), 284-309.
  • Twiss, P. (2012). Military-related housing. In A. Carswell (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Housing, (2nd ed,). Sage.
  • Argent, D., & Twiss, P. (submitted 2008). Landowner perceptions of riparian improvement in agriculturally impacted watersheds. Human Dimensions of Wildlife.
  • Twiss, P. C., & Mueller, T. R. (2006). Rural public housing: In use, needed, and threatened. In B. Locke (Ed.), 30th National Institute on Rural Human Services and Social Work. West Virginia University.
  • Twiss, P.C., & Mueller, T. (2004). Housing Appalachians: Recent trends, 1990 – 2000. Journal of Appalachian Studies, 10 (3).
  • Twiss, P. C. (2004). Ernest Rice McKinney: African-American Appalachian, social worker, radical labor organizer and educator. Journal of Appalachian Studies 10 (1 & 2), 95-110.
  • Twiss, P. C., & Cooper, P. (2000). Youth revitalizing main street: A case study. Social Work in Education, 22 (3), 162-176.
  • Twiss, P.C. (1999). The future of military quarters. In The Research Compendium. Scranton, PA: The Military Family Institute, Marywood University.
  • Twiss, P. C. & Martin, J. A. (June, 1999). Conventional and military public housing for families. Social Service Review, 73 (2): 240-260.
  • Twiss, P. (1996). Housing military families: Not just bricks and mortar. Military family issues: The research digest, vol. 1, no. 2, September, 1996.
  • Baum, M. & Twiss, P. (eds.) (1996). Social work intervention in an economic crisis: The river communities project. Haworth Press.
  • Biegel, D., Cunningham, J., Yamatani, H., & Martz, P. (1989). Self-reliance and blue-collar unemployment in a steel town. Social Work, 34(5), 385-480.
  • Morycz, R. K., Malloy, J., Bozich, M.A., & Martz, P. (1987). Racial differences in family burden: Clinical implications for social work. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 10 (1/2), 133-154.

Awards & Recognition

  • Dorothy Weber Cochran Excellence in Faculty Scholarship Award – Carlow University
  • Social Worker of the Year Award – The Southwest Division of the National Association of Social Workers, Pennsylvania Chapter (March 2013)
  • Certificate for Exceptional Support – California University of PA Office of Veterans Affairs (November 2011)
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