CHILDREN in the care system - who are more likely to have mental health difficulties than others in the wider population - are not more at risk due to being in care, according to new research from the University of York.

The study was led by Professor Nina Biehal in York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Care and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and suggested mental health issues can also be down to a child’s treatment before they entered local authority care. Researchers found 34 per cent who had been in care were assessed as having behavioural difficulties, compared with one in 10 children in the general population.