Collaborating to work across organisational boundaries:

What’s it really like?

Welcome

• What are your reflections on the festival so far?

• Why this session?

• What do you want to get from today?

Today’s event

• Introducing MEAM and multiple needs

• Three viewpoints on collaboration

Viewpoint 1: Why collaborate? (Rick Henderson, CEO, Homeless Link)

Viewpoint 2: Collaborating in local areas(Tom Tallon, CEA Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council andTammy, CEA Service)

Viewpoint 3: Joined up influence (Andrew Brown, Director of Policy, Influence and Engagement, DrugScope)

• Debate and discussion

Introducing MEAM

1. What is MEAM?

2. What is multiple needs?

3. What are we doing about it? (our activities)

4. How are we doing it? (our collaborative set-up)

What is MEAM?

• MEAM is four national charities – Clinks, DrugScope Homeless Link and Mind

• Each is a membership body: 1,600 frontline members

• MEAM was formed because people with multiple needs move between our sectors and are poorly supported

• Remit to focus on policy and practice change

What is multiple needs?

People facing multiple needs:

• Experience several problems at the same time

• Have ineffective contact with services

• Live chaotic lives

They can end up “recycling” around services

without ever getting the support they need

60,000

Multiple needs

Some stats from our work:

• 81% had been in prison• 80% were homeless

• 133 units of alcohol a week (average consumption)

• All but one unemployed• 48% had been a victim of crime in the

last 3 months• 44% involved with mental health

services • 36% had been in care as a child

• 35% rated health as bad or very bad

Age of first involvement in services and (length of involvement )

• Homelessness services: 23 yrs old (9 years)

Substance misuse services:19 years olds (7 years)

Mental Health services:15 yrs old (8 years)

Criminal justice services:23 yrs old (12 years)

* Length of involvement is for those still using services

Failure to tackle multiple needs means:

• Loss of individuals’ potential

• Negative impact on local communities

• Opportunity cost effect on local services

• Significant costs to the public purse

What are we doing about it?

Our vision:

In every local area, people experiencing multiple needs are:

• Supported by effective, coordinated services

• Empowered to tackle their problems, reach their full potential and contribute to their communities.

Policy

Practice pilots

Implementation

- Policy

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Engagement with frontlineservices

Intentional self-harm

Unintentional self-harm

Risk to others

Risk from others

Stress and anxiety

Social effectiveness

Alcohol and drug abuse

Impulse control

Housing

1st

2nd

3rd

- Practice pilots

• Three pilots to better coordinate existing services in local areas

• A comprehensive evaluation to make the social and economic case

Overall Crime Drug and alcohol

Health Mental Health

Housing£0

£500

£1,000

£1,500

£2,000

£2,500

£3,000

£3,500

£4,000

BaselineYear 1 Year 2

- Implementation

www.theMEAMapproach.org.uk

How we do it – core beliefs

• Collaboration at all levels is the best way tackle “intractable” problems

• Pooling resources & expertise leads to actions greater than sum of their parts

• No one sector can solve multiple needs on its own - collaboration is always preferable to ‘one size fits all’ solutions

• The world is ‘messy’ and it’s ok for collaboration to be messy too.

How we do it - set up

• We model the collaboration we want to see at the local and national level

• Small core (2 FTE) and “embed” the majority of our delivery resource into the four organisations (3.5 FTE - 20 people)

• We don’t want to build “a fifth organisation.” We remain a coalition, not a separate legal entity

MEAM Project Director

Local Networks Manager

CLINKS DRUGSCOPE

HOMELESS LINKMIND

CEO (Programme Board)Policy Director (Policy group)Practice Director (Practice group)2 x regional staff (0.15FTE each)Policy officer (0.4FTE)

CEO (Programme Board)Policy Director (Policy group)

Practice Director (Practice group)

Policy manager (1.0FTE)

CEO (Programme Board)Policy Director (Policy group)Practice Director (Practice group)

10 x regional staff (0.1FTE each)

Policy officer (0.4FTE)

CEO (Programme Board)Policy Director (Policy group)

Practice Director (Practice group)

2 x regional staff (0.15FTE each)

Policy officer (0.2FTE)

How we do it - Governance, management & oversight

MEAM Programme BoardBaroness Tyler – Independent Chair

4 x CEOs

Project Director

Embedded policy team(Voices from the Frontline)

Team Manager (1.0FTE – DS)Policy officer (0.4FTE - Clinks)

Policy officer (0.4FTE – HL)Policy officer (0.2FTE – Mind)

Local Networks Manager

Embedded practice team(MEAM Approach and Big Lottery)

10 x regional staff (0.1FTE each – HL)2 x regional staff (0.15FTE each – Clinks)2 x regional staff (0.15FTE each – Mind)

Policy Director’s group

4 x Policy Directors

Practice Director’s group

4 x Practice Directors

Thank you

www.meam.org.uk

www.theMEAMapproach.org.uk

Oliver HilberyProject Director

oliver.hilbery@meam.org.ukwww.meam.org.uk

@meamcoalition#multipleneeds

WWW.HOMELESS.ORG.UK

What Price Collaboration?

Rick Henderson

CEO

Homeless Link

WWW.HOMELESS.ORG.UK

MEAM Coalition

• Different to other experiences of collaboration:• Single focus (ie multiple/complex needs)• Open, honest, equal• Had funder(s) on board with the concept from

day 1• Employed excellent staff

WWW.HOMELESS.ORG.UK

MEAM collaboration has inspired Homeless Link to do more…• ‘Partnerships by Default’ is now part of our strategic plan – ALL

new projects are expected to be partnerships• New partnerships developed in past 18 months include Biffa,

Hansard Society, Refugee Action/Refugee Council, Red Cross, Scotland/Wales/Ireland

• Gone beyond the ‘usual suspects’

WWW.HOMELESS.ORG.UK

Collaboration Learning Points:• Need clear and explicit shared understanding of terms of

partnership• Get the money questions out of the way early• Have someone independent you can call on to help resolve

disputes and hold partners to account• Celebrate success at all levels within partner orgs.• Explaining partnership to funders can be tricky – they often

insist on a Lead Partner

WWW.HOMELESS.ORG.UK

Collaboration learning points cont.• Total honesty is key – partners should adopt a ‘no surprises’

pact• Things are bound to go wrong, shouldn’t mean that partners

revert to their silos• Allowing funders to be part of the solution means telling them

when problems have no easy answer• Rewards (of partnership working) will be amplified relative to

unilateral working

Cambridgeshire MEAMChronically Excluded Adults Service

Tom TallonProject and Development Manager Chronically Excluded Adults

Why we need collaboration

At least 15 clients known to Cambridge services

died between 2008 and 2009

In the beginning

Cambridgeshire Homelessness JSNA Making Every Adult Matter One problem client Three Senior Level drivers:

Adult Safeguarding NHS Cambridgeshire Housing Options and Advice

Mental Health

Housing

How does it work in Cambridgeshire?

CEA Operational Group

CEA Strategic Group

MEAM national network

Client specific professionals meetings

Substance Misuse

Criminal Justice

CEA Case Co-ordinator

Client

Floating Support

Social / community networks

Domestic ViolencePhysical Health

What is the impact?

Wellbeing:

(Year 1 clients n=13)

Well being has been measured using three tools Outcomes Star New Directions Team Assessment Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Baseline Phase One Phase Two

Outcomes Star NDT WEMWBS

What is the impact?

Service use:Monthly cost of service use (cumulative results – Cambridgeshire – year two)

Overall Crime Drug and alcohol Health Mental Health Housing£0

£500

£1,000

£1,500

£2,000

£2,500

£3,000

£3,500

£4,000

BaselineYear 1 Year 2

(Year 1 clients n=13)

All Together Now?

How we’re tackling them

• We surround our work with practitioners who buy in to the methodology and goals

• If we don’t know the answer then someone in our network does

• The ‘professionals meeting’ brings services to the table, does not leave any one agency isolated, and creates collective responsibility

• The coordinator role is mandated to work across those tiers and across sectors

• We have a strong focus on data collection and consent, and continue to explore new options

The challenges • Getting the right people and services to

buy in

• Tackling multi needs can be multifaceted and specialist

• Encouraging services to be flexible and go the extra mile

• Professionals often collaborate but only in tiers – which does not make it easier for the individual trying to navigate the system

• Sharing and collecting data remains a big barrier

Tom Tallon 01223 50717207769 886968

tom.tallon@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Collaboration in Influencing

Andrew Brown

Director of Policy, Influence and Engagement, DrugScope

Voices from the Frontline

• Bringing the voices of people with multiple needs and those who support them to the heart of the policy debate

• Two year policy project funded by Lankelly Chase Foundation

• 2 FTE posts split across the four coalition partners

COLLABORATION IN INFLUENCING

What are the issues and how do we deal with them?

TOO MANY COOKS?

Issue: Complex and potentially contradictory management

Our solutions: • Accept messy

collaboration• Open and honest

dialogue• Clear processes• Learn from our

mistakes

Photo by Flickr user Nick Wheeler

PITCH AND PRIORITIES

Issue: How much of priority is MEAM at any given time?

Our solutions:• Understand

each others crises

• Quid pro quo• Draw on what

is available• Coalition of

the willing

Photo by Flickr user Mait Jüriado

MISSION AND VOICE

Issue: Are we amplified or drowned out by collaboration?

Our solutions:• Defining the

issue clearly• Encouraging

other collaborations

• Being clear about the ambitions for the coalition