At the inner-city school-based health center (SBHC) where I interned in 2013-2014, we couldn’t always prevent tragedy in the lives of our students. Every week, some 250 students used our services, which ranged from medical services to counseling to snacks. From these encounters, I saw first-hand what data back up: a facility allowing students, teachers and mental health professionals to coordinate support in one place leads to better mental-health access for teens who need it most.

While mental health services in the US are generally inadequate, teens are especially ill-served by the existing gaps in the system. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Americans ages 10 to 24, with about 4,600 lives lost each year. According to a national study published in the Journal of JAMA Psychiatry in 2013, one in 25 teens attempt suicide and one in eight think about doing so; 80% of youth who attempt suicide and 90% of those who complete it have a history of a psychiatric or mental health disorder, including depression, substance abuse, conduct disorder, aggressive behavior patterns or anxiety disorders.

These statistics are even starker for minority teens, who comprise about 70% of the students at schools with SBHCs at them. Three transgender teenagers have killed themselves since March in San Diego and, in the past six months, so did nine young people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Across the country, more than 30% of Native American students in urban communities have contemplated suicide and more than 20% have attempted it. A new study has found that the rates of suicide have doubled among African American children in the last two decades. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that one in seven Latino youth report attempting suicide.

Studies show that SBHCs, which offer primary medical services, mental health care and health promotion activities, can be an effective tool to help fight these trends. Students with access to SBHCs have fewer hospital and emergency-care visits than those without access to them. Two studies found youths were 10 to 21 times more likely to use mental health services at a SBHC than would use a community health center network or HMO. Another study found that students who reported depression and past suicide attempts were significantly more willing to use the school health center for counseling services.

These successes are being noticed, and SBHCs are beginning to catch on across the country. In recent months, new facilities have opened in states like Arkansas, Texas and Oregon. There are more than 2,000 SBHCs in the US, but less than 2% the nation’s high school students have access to one.

And this tiny percentage is a shame, because while financing an SBHC can be costly, with median annual operating costs from $90,000 to $400,000, research has shown that SBHCs are a great investment: a longitudinal study of 5,056 students in SBHC and non-SBHC groups found a net three-year Medicaid savings of $35 per student per year. The study also found that the SBHCs prevented productivity losses of over $500,000 by parents (four hours work time per parent) who would otherwise have had to take their children to the doctor. Furthermore, the SBHCs ensure more students graduate from high school by decreasing absences and school discipline referrals while increasing academic achievement.

Across the nation, policymakers, educators and communities are in dire need of strategies to reduce the mental health issues among our nation’s youth. While SBHCs may not prevent or save every child from suicidal thoughts and behaviors, providing mental healthcare in school settings is the first of many systemic strategies that must be implemented to support the overall health and future of our youth, particularly those most at-risk.

• In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 08457 90 90 90. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.