Jane Silovsky, PhD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC). She serves as the CMRI/Jean Gumerson Endowed Chair and Director of the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN). Starting in 1996, Dr. Silovsky directed CCAN’s Treatment Program for Children with Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB). She is a licensed psychologist and an initial developer of the Preschool Treatment Program for Children with Problematic Sexual Behaviors (PSB-CBT-P). With Drs. Bigfoot and Burris, Dr. Silovsky facilitated the development of Honoring Children, Respectful Ways: Treatment for Native American Children with Sexual Behavior Problems training and treatment manuals, which is a cultural adaptation of the treatment for children with PSB through the Indian Country Child Trauma Center (ICCTC; previously funded through SAMHSA).
Dr. Silovsky has an active research program examining the typology, characteristics, treatment outcome, and implementation of evidence-based treatments for youth with problematic sexual behavior, as reflected in peer reviewed publications, a book, book chapters, taskforce reports and fact sheets on the topic. Dr. Silovsky co-guest edited the Special Issues on Children with Sexual Behavior Problems for the journal, Child Maltreatment and the international journal Child Abuse and Neglect. Training and technical assistance on youth with problematic sexual behavior is provided through our National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth (NCSBY), which Dr. Silovsky directs with funding through grants with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). Through NCSBY, teams across the nation are provided training and technical assistance in implementing evidence-based community-based treatment for youth with problematic sexual behavior, child victims, and their families. Further, Dr. Silovsky is regularly invited to serve as an expert on the topic such as on the Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Abuse (ATSA) taskforce on children with sexual behavior problems, and as the topic expert in the area of Treating Sexual Behavior Problems in Children for the Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare in California, as well as an invited topic expert of the Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative advisory board through the Office of Justice Programs. In 2023, Dr. Silovsky was honored with a lifetime achievement award from ATSA. For the National Children’s Alliance, the accrediting organization for Child Advocacy Centers, she is the co-chair of their working group on youth with problematic sexual behavior. NCSBY has also collaborated with NCSTN, OneOP, and Military OneSource. Through these collaborations, NCSBY has developed asynchronous learning series, webinars, fact sheets and other resources under Dr. Silovsky’s leadership. The Restoring the Sacred Circle Toolkit was developed through a collaboration of NCSBY and ICCTC