It’s a little bit of money that could go a long way in addressing mental health problems for South Whidbey students, an Island County official said.

A new agreement approved at Wednesday night’s South Whidbey School District board meeting will provide Island County with $24,000 to improve in-house mental health services, though it needs final approval from county commissioners. The boost will allow for the addition of a half-time care coordinator in addition to the two certificated counselors already at South Whidbey High School and Elementary School. One of the two counselors will also increase from a 0.6 full-time equivalent position to 0.7.

The county facilitates individual and group counseling, case management and crisis intervention services, according to the agreement. Though the county has provided mental health services for nearly a decade using revenue from one-tenth of one percent sales taxes, the new agreement marks the first time the district has contributed funding toward it.

“Until now, it’s always been whatever the county can afford,” said Superintendent Jo Moccia. “It’s a really valuable service for us.”

While district-employed counselors at Langley Middle School or South Whidbey High School mostly focus on academic needs, the county’s counselors are specifically trained to handle issues ranging from substance abuse to depression or anxiety, and can make referrals for other services.

Charlene Ray, the county’s school-based mental health program coordinator, said there has been a push for more mental health services to be available in schools. Ray said that the National Alliance on Mental Illness reported one in five young people have a mental illness of some kind.

Ray said the county is also seeing a similar trend.

“We are seeing more mental health issues, more kids with depression and anxiety at an even younger age,” Ray said.

Data compiled through surveys administered to students every two years, starting in the sixth grade, also showed an uptick in suicide ideation as well as increased substance abuse, making the subject both important and in urgent need of addressing.

“I think we can help a young person get the counseling they need sooner, so the problem doesn’t continue,” Ray said. “The sooner you treat any mental illness, the better the prognosis. We just want to give young people an opportunity to have a safe space to talk about what’s going on and connect them with resources.”

With the addition of the half-time care coordinator, more time will be spent connecting resources to the community, as well as making home visits and conducting outreach projects, Ray said. The other benefit is that the care coordinator will free up time for the counselors to do more individual, group and family counseling. Efforts are also being made to increase awareness of the problem in classrooms through presentations and other informational activities.

“It’s a little bit of money that will go a long way for youths and families in Island County,” Ray said. “We have many success stories of young people who have said the counseling changed their lives or saved their lives. We know that it is effective.”

Robin Barre, who was the elementary school counselor for five years before recently stepping down from the position, corroborated Ray’s outlook. She said that she ran into difficulties managing her time between working with children and arranging group sessions with families. With the addition of the care coordinator, that problem is no more, she said.

“Honestly, the school based mental health counseling program is one of the biggest bangs for the biggest taxpayers bucks as they’re ever going to get,” Barre said.