Children's Home run by Arborvitae Care Services Ltd in Manchester

Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 1 Registered provider: Arborvitae Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to 4 children who experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 1 child was living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 14 October 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/10/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 3

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Summary of findings

The child is kept safe and feels safe. Staff prioritise the child’s safety and ensure that they are protected from harm. Staff support the child with their education and learning. They provide them with positive and enjoyable activities.

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Summary of findings

Staff ensure that the child’s health needs are reliably met. However, some of the consequences used by staff are negative and counterproductive. The manager’s quality of care review could be improved as there is limited evidence of any stakeholder feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last assurance inspection, no children have left or moved into the home. One child has lived in the home since March 2026. After an unsettled start, the child is now settled and developing positive relationships with the adults who care for them and keep them safe from harm. The social worker said, ‘They have settled in really well and are developing good relationships with staff. [Child’s name] is learning and getting used to the home’s routines and boundaries.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is currently home schooled with access to an online personal tutor. They attend education virtually and benefit from good support and encouragement from staff. The child’s attendance and engagement in learning are improving in relation to their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the child’s health needs are consistently met. They make sure that the child is registered with the necessary health services to promote their health and well- being. Staff support the child’s attendance with any health or medical appointments and ensure that they have access to therapeutic support to promote their emotional well- being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child benefits from regular visits from their family. Staff ensure that the child’s parents feel welcome during their visits, and they maintain positive relationships with the child’s family. The child’s parent said, ‘Communication is great. [Child’s name] has come such a long way. They are more mature and calmer. Their routines have improved massively.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the child with positive activities. The child enjoys going to the cinema, roller skating, bowling, baking and horse riding. They benefit from a physically safe and appropriately secure environment. The child has drawn pictures of the staff team which are proudly displayed within the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 4

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff prioritise the child’s well-being and safety effectively and have a good understanding of their specific needs and vulnerabilities. Staff ensure that there is close supervision of children and take appropriate action to protect them from harm. The child said, ‘Its ok, it's nice. The staff are kind and caring.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child is under close adult supervision and has additional safeguards in place that restrict their freedom of movement, as agreed by the placing authority, and the child’s parents. An application for deprivation of liberty safeguards is in the process of being made by the placing authority.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been occasions when negative consequences have been used that restrict the child’s time under adult supervision in the community. The consequences can be lengthy and are counterproductive.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff take appropriate action to prevent the child from going missing from the home and manage the risks effectively. The child is closely supervised and under constant adult supervision.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are trained in de-escalation to help them manage challenging situations safely. The use of restraint is only ever used to keep the child safe from harm. Following incidents, both the child and staff are debriefed for support, reflections and any learning.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

All staff are subject to robust vetting and recruitment checks prior to their appointment to ensure that children are not cared for by unsuitable individuals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager’s post has been vacant since September 2025, and the home’s previous acting manager has left the home very recently. Consequently, children and staff have experienced periods of instability in terms of the home’s leadership and management arrangements. The home has now had three consecutive managers since its registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The provider is actively recruiting to fill the vacant manager’s position. In the interim, staff are being supported by the home’s responsible individual, as well as leaders and managers from other homes within the company. This arrangement ensures there is management visibility and oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff meet the aims and objectives, as outlined, in the home’s statement of purpose. However, the statement has not been updated to include the specific job roles, relevant experience and qualifications of the staff working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Additionally, the manager’s quality of care review has not been submitted to Ofsted following its review for regulatory oversight. The document does not include detailed Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 5 evaluations of practice or considerations of the views of children, staff and relevant stakeholders which is a missed opportunity for any learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers make good use of the home’s independent monitoring activities to address any practice shortfalls to secure improvement in the care provided for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children's home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The manager must include staff's details, experience and relevant qualifications in their statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, any revisions to the statement of purpose should be sent to Ofsted. 24 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children's home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b)) 16 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 7 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) and (5)) 24 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The behaviour management strategy should be understood and kept under review and revised where appropriate. This relates specifically to reviewing the duration of any consequences that restrict children's access to community-based activities for lengthy periods. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, page 46, paragraph Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 8 9.34)

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Recommendations

 Additionally, the registered person should also ensure that any locked external doors have an overriding safety mechanism, such as an internal thumb-turn lock, so that children can exit the home safely, if there are no deprivation of liberty safeguards in place. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, page 50, paragraph 9.63)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Arborvitae Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 73 Liverpool Road, Crosby, Liverpool L23 5SE

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Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2805993 10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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