When Tyler Morton made a presentation at a recent statewide meeting, he focused on how Juvenile Services (JS) representatives can make a lasting impression while talking with legislators and other officials.
Morton, JS prevention advocate, was one of four featured speakers during PreventionWorKS training at the Kansas Health Institute in Topeka.
“When our young people meet with lawmakers on advocacy days at the state capitol, we don’t have a lot of face-to-face time,” Morton said. “This is no one’s fault. Schedules can be derailed at the last minute by committee meetings, special sessions and other conflicts.
“Because we understand this, we have to make a lasting impression that encourages legislators to follow-up on our conversations.”
Morton mentioned the overlap between his presentation and one of the other training topics, which was called “storytelling.”
“As we tell our story, it is better to draw on emotion and talk about something meaningful in our community,” he commented. “The two legislators we talked with recently at Youth Mental Health Advocacy Day make our job easier.”
Rep. Dr. Sherri Brantley and Sen. Tory Blew “understand our rural communities and the concerns we face,” Morton explained. “They know our families and friends, which leads to connections that allow us to build a rapport with them.”
Training information
Training provided by the Kansas Prevention Collaborative, “provide us with new avenues of discussion that help us focus on guiding young people in Barton County Youth Crew and other programs,” Morton noted. “They discover that they should speak with confidence and from the heart, while succinctly explaining an issue important to them and their community.”
Morton also noted he was impressed with the camaraderie among the presenters who discussed their issues in advance of the meeting.
“We bounced ideas off one another and built on our presentations. This energy resulted in great feedback from attendees,” he commented. “It was a great opportunity to network with other prevention professionals from throughout Kansas.”
Morton serves on the Kansas Prevention Collaborative planning committee and helps organize these quarterly meetings.
In addition to storytelling and making a lasting impression, speakers discussed the Kansas Communities That Care Survey and how to display confidence by succinctly explaining an issue and being able to answer questions.
20th Judicial District Juvenile Services empowers youth in Barton, Rice, Ellsworth, Stafford and Russell counties to achieve positive outcomes by offering Juvenile Intake & Assessment, Immediate Intervention, Intensive Supervised Probation, Case Management, Journey to Change, Life Skills, All Stars and Youth Crew. Parents and guardians also are offered The Parent Project. Visit 1800 12th in Great Bend or call 620-793-1930.
