Jeffrey N. Kushner – M.H.R.A.

Jeffrey Kushner is the Montana Statewide Drug Court Coordinator with the Montana Supreme Court/Office of the Court Administrator. Kushner assumed his duties in January of 2008 after the Montana Legislative Assembly provided initial funding for the state’s drug courts and his position.

Prior to assuming his duties in Helena, Kushner had a long career as the State Director of Alcohol and Drug Services in several states before he assumed the position as the Drug Court Administrator for the 22^nd Judicial Circuit in St. Louis, MO. Mr. Kushner began with the Circuit in December as the primary planner for the drug court that opened in April of 1997. This court is one of the initial and oldest drug courts in the country.

Kushner is a very strong advocate for implementation of evidence-based practices within treatment programs and drug courts and chaired an initiative with National Drug Court Institute to publish a document on evidence-based practices for drug courts in conjunction with 12 internationally known researchers in related fields. 

The publication, Quality Improvement for Drug Courts; Evidence-Based Practices, has been completed and thousands of copies have been distributed across the country. Kushner, working with American University, is one of two authors in the development of a set of guidelines entitled, “A Technical Assistance Guide for Drug Court Judges on Drug Court Treatment Services.” to improve the understanding of evidence-based treatment practices and their use by drug courts.

Kushner has also joined with Children and Families Futures to develop a Family Strength and Needs Assessment Survey instrument to improve services to family members of drug court participants across the country. Kushner is the only individual in the country who has been both a Single State Agency Director for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and a statewide drug court administrator.

Kushner co-authored a set of guidelines entitled, “A Technical Assistance Guide for Drug Court Judges on Drug Court Treatment Services.” to improve the understanding of evidence-based treatment practices and their use by drug courts.