In March 2024, The Jed Foundation (JED) and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, announced the selection of 15 school districts to participate in the District Comprehensive Approach (DCA) pilot, a transformational program that guides districts in improving systems of support for pre-K–12 students’ emotional well-being. The program, now called the JED and AASA District Mental Health Initiative, is enrolling new districts into future cohorts.
In an ongoing series of blog posts, we feature each of the pilot districts and their work learning and leading powerful mental health and suicide prevention practices that will benefit students around the country.
District: Hardin Public Schools in Montana
Number of schools: 7
Number of students: Over 1,800
About the district: Hardin is a close-knit farming and ranching community in rural Montana.
JED and AASA asked Tobin Novasio, superintendent of Hardin Public Schools, about the district’s participation in the DCA program. (Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity.)
What is your primary reason for participating in the DCA inaugural cohort?
Like many schools, we are dealing with more mental health issues than in the past, and we’re searching for ways to better support our students and staff. Many of the youth we serve are proud members of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Nations whose communities have navigated generations of challenges, including negative effects of geographic isolation, discrimination, unemployment, and substance misuse. These communities have also experienced barriers to accessing economic opportunities, safe and stable housing, quality healthcare, and mental health support that respects cultural traditions, practices, and values.
Our community is deeply impacted by the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons. Many of our Crow and Northern Cheyenne students and their families continue to experience the lasting effects of trauma, including intergenerational trauma.
Through our partnership with JED and AASA, we aim to build on the resources already in place and ensure they are more cohesive and sustainable in supporting our students, families, and staff.
Explain why student emotional well-being is a priority for you, your district, and your community.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that for students to get to a place of strong academic growth, we must first make sure their basic needs are being met. This includes meeting physical needs such as safety, warmth, and nourishment, as well as social and emotional needs like feeling emotionally secure, cared for, and a sense of belonging. We can bring in the best academic programs in the world, but if our students’ basic needs are not being met, they will not be ready to learn.
What does participating in the DCA program mean for the well-being of your students and the culture of your district?
Participating in DCA increases our ability to access research-based support and gives us an avenue to continue conversations about youth mental health needs. We hope that by providing more mental health support for students and their families, we can positively impact students’ lives outside of our school as well — a possible step toward breaking the cycles of poverty. We also hope that we can combine JED’s best practices with our local tribal cultural traditions.
How does involvement with the DCA program impact public education nationwide?
Our needs and resources are likely much different than those of larger districts participating in the program. We hope to develop strategies specific to Hardin’s needs and available resources, with the goal that some of the tools might be applied in other Indigenous and/or rural districts nationwide.
Where do you hope to be one year from now on this journey?
We know this is a long journey and there is no overnight cure for generational issues. We certainly hope we will be making progress by having additional support in place and having candid discussions about the importance of mental health.
Read about the other school districts in the pilot program:
If you or someone you know needs to talk to someone right now, text, call, or chat 988 for a free confidential conversation with a trained counselor 24/7.
You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.
If this is a medical emergency or if there is immediate danger of harm, call 911 and explain that you need support for a mental health crisis.
