Jane Silovsky, Ph.D., 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). Since 1996, Dr. Silovsky has been the Director for the Treatment Program for Children with Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB); funded by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), Oklahoma Juvenile Bureau, and Oklahoma Juvenile Affairs (OJA)). She is a licensed psychologist and actively provides treatment and supervision weekly for treatment groups serving these youth with PSB; these youth and their families are diverse and have a variety of needs such as reunification, trauma exposure, and other behavior problems. Dr. Silovsky is one of the primary developers 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 a 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, and factsheets for national organizations (i.e., the National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth- NCSBY, National Children’s Alliance, and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network) on the topic. Dr. Silovsky co-guest edited the Special Issue on Children with Sexual Behavior Problems for the journal, Child Maltreatment. She has multiple research publications on children with PSB, including a meta-analysis on treatment outcome studies completed with a former doctoral student under her supervision, Dr. St. Amand. National 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 and is funding through grants with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 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 Treatment of Sexual Abusers taskforce on children with sexual behavior problems (report published in Child Maltreatment), 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. 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. Through this work, Dr. Silovsky facilitated the development of a four part on-line video training series on Problematic Sexual Behavior of Youth with three corresponding fact sheets and the coordination of webinar series on the topic. Dr. Silovsky has presented locally, state-wide, nationally, and internationally on youth with PSB including for national organizations such as American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and Association for the Treatment of Sex Abusers (ATSA).