Judith Silver, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in Pediatrics University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

           Judith A. Silver, Ph.D. is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she is the associate director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Program, a post-graduate fellowship for health care professionals. She is a pediatric psychologist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and co-director of Safe Place: The Center for Child Protection and Health, which integrates pediatric child abuse and foster care initiatives at the hospital in clinical care, assessment, education, advocacy, and research.  

           Dr. Silver’s clinical work has focused on children with disabilities and high-risk infants, with a special focus on the health and developmental needs of young children involved with the child welfare system. From 1992-2007 she directed the Starting Young Program, a pediatric developmental evaluation program for young Philadelphia children under 3 involved with the child welfare system. Dr. Silver has presented numerous educational programs on early childhood health, development, and mental health for child welfare professionals, legal advocates and judges. Since 2001 she has chaired or co-chaired the Committee on the Health Care Needs of Children in Substitute Care, a community task force of diverse stakeholders from the public and private sectors, which aims to reduce barriers to healthy wellbeing among this vulnerable population.

           Dr. Silver has served on national advisory committees related to young children in foster care, including the National Advisory Committee on the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) Standards of Excellence for Health Care Services for Children in Out-of-Home Care and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/CWLA’s Foster Care Mental Health initiative. Her publications are related to the health, development and mental health of children involved with the child welfare system.