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Debbie White's teenage son stopped wanting to answer his cell phone last year because he was afraid it would be yet another call about one of his classmates killing themselves.

That's when White decided it was time to act.

"I feel like we have a suicide contagion. The last two deaths were only five weeks apart from each other," said White, who with her two teens knew five young people who committed suicide over the previous 18 months.White contacted teachers, nonprofit workers, counselors and anyone else she thought might be able to help. She discovered that many teachers and counselors within the Juneau School District are tuned in to the problem and are trying to deal with it.

But many mental health professionals in Juneau say social services to deal with teen suicide are in short supply. Affordable counseling, more staff and a hospital unit dedicated to adolescents and teenagers are needed, they said.

The adolescent population is underserved, particularly when dealing with substance abuse, which can be a contributing factor in suicides, said Dr. Paul Topol, director of Bartlett Regional Hospital's mental health unit and the Rainforest Recovery Treatment Center.

"It's pretty slim pickin's," Topol said.

Juneau Youth Services, a nonprofit that treats children with substance abuse and mental health issues, is one of the few agencies to which young people and their families can turn.

The agency provides an emergency teen shelter, a "mobile crisis unit" that touches base with kids where they hang out, and assessments for mental health and substance-abuse needs, among other services. The organization provides a wide array of services, from family counseling to intensive residential treatment, for those age 3 to 21.

With a staff of 140, the nonprofit treats about 700 children and teens and their family members each year, according to Executive Director Walter Majoros.

But Juneau Youth Services has 100 people waiting to enter its program at any given time, Majoros said.

Funding is a main reason the nonprofit can't take more clients, but staffing is also a problem. The staff size doubled in the last five years, but Majoros said he still can't find enough qualified people in Juneau.

On the funding side, Medicaid pays for most of JYS's programs so it can take only a limited number of clients who don't qualify for Medicaid because operating costs far exceed patient fees.

And when a young person is in imminent danger of hurting themselves, the agency lacks enough resources to constantly monitor that person, Majoros said.

He and other health professionals identified a treatment gap in Juneau. They said the gap could be closed by a hospital unit for adolescents and teens with mental health and substance abuse problems.

A new mental health unit opened at Bartlett Regional Hospital last year, but it's not equipped to handle minors who, by law, must be separated from adults. Children and teenagers are treated in the emergency room - they are not turned away - but when the immediate threat has passed, kids face a hole in the system.

"There still is this gap for children who need acute mental health services," said Bartlett CFO Garth Hamblin. "The best we can do is stabilize them ... and ship them to another facility. We are not set up to engage them they way we can adults."

The problem is felt statewide. On any given day, an estimated 400 to 500 Alaskan children receive out-of-state mental health treatment, according to the state Department of Health. Half of these children are Native Alaskans.

An initiative called Bring The Kids Home aims to develop the capacity to treat children closer to home by creating institutionalized mental heath care in the state. Started by the state Department of Health, the program aims to reinvest money currently going out of state to expand mental health services in Alaska's communities.

Juneau's fix is at least three years away, as Bartlett plans and designs a behavioral health unit for young people that would be a locked, in-patient treatment center. Funding is expected to come from state grants, but has not yet been approved.

Getting the money to pay for new treatment options is important to complete the continuum of care, said James Gallanos, a mental health clinician and project coordinator for the state's suicide prevention initiative. Another area where Juneau could use some more services is counseling.

Since his office is in Juneau, Gallanos is involved with local efforts that tie into the state's program.

"I'm hearing from parents that affordable, available counseling is difficult to find," he said.

Meanwhile, White continues her crusade to prevent teen suicides.

Unable to sleep at night last fall, she spent hours doing research on the Internet.

She contacted an organization called Suicide Awareness Voices of Education that sets up three-day school courses on suicide prevention. She got a counselor to give a presentation on suicide prevention at the high school. She also spent thousands of dollars on pamphlets, community action kits and books that she gave to the Juneau Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She also plans to pass some of these out to people who show interest in the issue.

"I'm going to keep making noise until something is done about it," she said. "I think this is more important than talking to kids about sex education or drugs. I didn't wait for the school to do that with my kids; that's not their job. But until we can break some cycles on this, it's going to have to be their job."

Raising awareness about depression and suicide is a start to get teens into treatment, but more services and funding will have to follow if these kids are going to be helped, Dr. Topol said. And White has no plans to stop her efforts to stop suicides.

"There needs to be more people making noise," she said. "It's hard to push an engine alone; I need more people pushing. If parents want to get started I can help them ... I need people to stand up and raise their hand and say, 'I'll help.'"