Children's Home run by EpicUK Ltd in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 1 Registered provider: EpicUK Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private provider and offers care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/01/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out, and one child remains living at the home. This child has lived at the home for almost two years. Both children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children make some progress from their starting points; one child has not been missing since the last inspection, and there has been a noticeable reduction in children’s misuse of substances. However, children have not always received consistent responses from staff to mitigate some risks. This has resulted in children not being consistently well safeguarded.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff support and encourage the children to access primary health services to ensure that their health needs are met. However, although some planned conversations with children take place, staff do not consistently address areas such as healthy relationships, online safety and healthy lifestyles. This inconsistency reduces opportunities to support the children to make safer choices.’

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff encourage the children to have fun and support their individual interests, such as fishing and skateboarding. One child spends lengthy periods away from the home socialising with peers. However, the child’s individual support plans do not provide staff with guidance on how to monitor their welfare while they are out. This has led to inconsistent approaches from staff.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff do not always ensure that children’s bedrooms are safe and hygienic. One child’s bedroom has food stains and remnants covering the walls and ceiling; additionally, safety measures are not in place to prevent a potential risk of falling from height. Leaders and managers have adapted areas of the home to provide more dedicated space for children. This has included the addition of a ‘chill out room’ and a quiet room/office space. Many of these areas remain incomplete and require further work to ensure a homely and safe environment for the children.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children have developed relationships with the staff and say they enjoy living at the home. One child expressed their wish to continue receiving care from the staff.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff encourage the children to spend time with the people who are important to them. Family members regularly visit the home. This allows the children to maintain a sense of belonging.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff support children in their education and employment. This has helped one child who previously had sporadic engagement in education build their skills and confidence. As a result, they recently completed a vocational qualification. Staff help the children to develop their independence and learn skills for adulthood. Staff have helped one child Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 4 begin to develop the knowledge and confidence to use a range of public transport to travel considerable distances.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children have risk assessments, which are regularly updated and reviewed. However, some known risks have not been sufficiently considered. This means that risk assessments do not always provide clear strategies to help manage these risks.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children are not adequately supported by staff in thinking about staying safe online. Staff have missed opportunities to support and develop children's learning about safe and age-appropriate internet use. The systems in place for monitoring children’s internet use are not strong enough.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children know how to raise complaints. Complaints are appropriately managed, ensuring that children feel heard. However, some staff are not confident in how to escalate whistle-blowing concerns outside of the home. This potentially undermines staff’s ability to safeguard children.

p.4

improvement to be good

The management oversight and scrutiny of missing incidents is not sufficiently strong. Leaders and managers have not consistently contacted children’s local authorities to advocate for return home interviews. This potentially reduces opportunities to identify factors that influence children going missing and how to better keep them safe

p.4

improvement to be good

On occasions staff use consequences to manage behaviour. These consequences are not always proportionate or sensitive to children’s needs or experiences. In addition, leaders and managers do not always review their effectiveness.

p.4

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

The home is led by a permanent registered manager. The responsible individual is actively engaged in the children’s lives and knows them well.

p.4

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

Although leaders and managers have made some changes to monitoring arrangements since the last inspection, processes to enable clear and effective oversight are not yet sufficiently effective. This has contributed to leaders and managers not identifying some shortfalls and areas for improvement. For example, important records in the home have not always been clearly documented and children’s records vary in quality. As a result, children do not always experience the quality-of-care senior leaders aspire to provide.

p.4

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

The shortfalls identified at the last inspection have not been fully addressed. Four requirements have been restated. Leaders and managers have a clear vision for the home and have reflected on some actions from the last inspection. However, these changes are not yet fully embedded, contributing to ineffective oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 5 Leaders and managers work proactively with partner agencies. Professionals report that they are kept well informed and say that positive working relationships have been established with the professional network and local police. This ensures an individual multi-agency response when there are concerns for children’s safety and well-being.

p.4

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

Staff feel valued. They say that the management team is supportive and approachable. Staff receive regular supervision that helps them learn and develop in their role. There is a wide range of training afforded to the staff, providing them with knowledge and skills to meet the needs of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.6

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vii)(d)) 12 July 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 12 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 7 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

p.7

Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.7

Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

p.7

Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(b) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)) 12 September 2025

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

p.7

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date and that missing-from-home incidents are recorded. 12 September 2025

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and homely environment. Children should be able to access shared spaces, and these should not be used for staff administration, management or other professional purposes unless necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks for each child, including online risks, and the arrangements in place to protect them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 8 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

p.7

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: 2782906 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Dalkeith Road, Ilford IG1 1JD

p.9

Inspectors

Naomi Starbuck, Social Care Inspector Emilja Myers, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2782906 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.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10