Opportunity Bucks
The MEAM (Making Every Adult Matter) Approach in Buckinghamshire
Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) is a national network led by a group of charities, focusing on improving outcomes for individuals experiencing disadvantages and looking at systemic barriers that impact on these individuals. Buckinghamshire Council joined the network in 2021 as part of our work through the Opportunity Bucks programme to improve outcomes for residents experiencing hardship.
The MEAM Approach helps local areas deliver better services for people experiencing disadvantages. Currently, it's used by partnerships of different agencies in 50 areas across England.
The MEAM Approach areas consider seven principles, which are changed to local needs:
- Partnership, co-production and vision
- Consistency in selecting a caseload
- Co-ordination for clients and services
- Flexibility from services
- Service improvement and workforce development
- Measurement of success
- Sustainability and systems change
MEAM Approach areas improve outcomes for individuals, reducing use and cost of different public services and develop long-term changes to local systems.
In Buckinghamshire the focus is supporting the following cohorts of individuals within the Opportunity Bucks target wards:
- those presented as homeless to the council repeatedly and/or have experienced prolonged rough sleeping
- those who have applied to the council repeatedly for financial support through the Helping Hand team
- those who have been referred to adult social care and not engaging with services, where other services are unable/struggling to meet need, and/or don’t have eligible support and care needs, or they don’t want support from adult social care
Through MEAM we work with a range of services, agencies and organisations that are involved in people’s lives to understand their experiences supporting people with complex challenges in the current system.
At present the MEAM team is not accepting new referrals.
However, if you would like a professional conversation with the MEAM team, please contact [email protected]
If you are interested in the MEAM team sharing the system learning with your service area or organisation please contact [email protected]