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Carers need training to reduce suicide risk

Foster carers and residential childcare workers need basic mental health training to stem the number of looked-after children and care leavers who take their own lives, the government has been told.

A suicide prevention strategy was launched last month by the government, highlighting looked-after children and care leavers as a "high-risk" group.

The strategy stated that children who have been in care are between four and five times more likely to attempt suicide in adulthood, have a fivefold increased risk of all childhood mental, emotional and behavioural problems and a six to sevenfold increased risk of conduct disorders.

The strategy called on local areas to identify young people with mental health problems earlier on, through interventions in schools and targeted work with young people at risk.

But Natasha Finlayson, chief executive of The Who Cares? Trust, said more focus should be placed on the quality of care provided to looked-after children.

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