Rural schools fear losing mental health counselors with federal funding in danger

BLAINE, Wash. — The pandemic officially ended in Washington state more than three years ago, but its toll on children’s mental health is far from over — and in rural Washington, the safety net supporting struggling students may be close to breaking.

School districts across the state added mental health staff during the pandemic using federal grants, bringing the number of counselors to 21 in Whatcom County. But those grants — totaling $1.6 million — are expiring, and support from the Trump administration for social services has been limited. In Whatcom County’s border city of Blaine, the problem is compounded by declining sales tax revenue tied to a drop in Canadian visitors crossing into the U.S.

The result: The three additional counselors currently helping students in Blaine schools cope could be reduced to one.

The drawings on Kevin Kirn’s office whiteboard show the range of emotions his students experience. As a mental health counselor in Blaine schools, he said some of those feelings can turn dark.

“It’s every day hearing those really tough stories,” Kirn said. “My main concern is getting that call on a Sunday night that we had a kid die. It happens. I’ve been through way too many of them.”

Kirn said those cuts would triple his caseload to an unmanageable 120 students per week across three schools.

“Every minute of every day is already full,” Kirn said. “We don’t have the extra capacity to make those supports come out of thin air.”

The stakes are high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rural students are twice as likely to die by suicide as their urban counterparts. The World Health Organization reports they are also 36% less likely to seek help.

Interim Blaine School Superintendent Dan Chaplik said child psychiatrists are nearly nonexistent in the area, with families driving 50 miles round trip to Bellingham for an appointment, if they can get one at all. He said additional counselors are essential to keeping students functioning day to day.

“We’re trying to give them some ability to problem-solve and regulate the feelings they’re experiencing so they can participate in learning each day,” Chaplik said. “I think we would feel these cuts immediately.”

Federal funding decisions are expected this summer, with the impacts, for better or worse, becoming clear when students return to school in the fall.

“These are our kids. These are our future,” Kirn said. “We have to wrap all of our support around them. If we don’t, it will come back to haunt us.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Visit Vibrant Emotional Health’s Safe Space for digital resources.