RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) -- The Rapid City Area School District has received three million dollars to enhance school based mental health services. From kindergarten through high school, mental health matters. Over the next five years, Rapid City Area Schools will be able to do more to help students of all ages. Officials searching for missing 12-year-old Crofton boy "How do you provide those supports and services to help keep kids in school, to help them feel good as they grow and develop, and of course have a high quality education. So it all comes together and this grant is an opportunity to expand those services to really help our kids," Acting Superintendent Dr. Cory Strasser said. The school district plans to increase mental health service sessions by 25 percent. This initiative will focus on bringing in cultural responsive mental health services to nearly 6,500 kids in the Rapid City Area School District. This grant will also help reduce the student-to-mental health provider ratio, along with the student-to-counselor ratio. "When you can reduce the ratios when you talk about one student to 300 or roughly in those areas, that significantly increases our opportunities to impact students and provide access to mental health practices that can meet their needs," Strasser said. One of the program's objectives is to hire culturally diverse and credentialed mental health professionals to better reflect Rapid City's diverse student population. Rapid City Area Schools also say that they will act as timely as they can with the funds coming in so that they can begin the hiring process.