<p>Joey Thurman:<br />Welcome back to Talking Cities Aurora. I'm Joey Thurman.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />And I'm Nicole Astra. Joey, what'd you do this weekend?<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Oh, I work all the time. So any opportunity I get to play with my son, play tag and he has these little eggs, and he pretends that they're hatching underneath pillows. It's quite adorable.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Very adorable.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />How about you?<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />We stayed in for most of the weekend but we did go bowling.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Okay. You had a lazy weekend and a little-<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Mom won.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />... lazy bowling.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Just in case you're curious-<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Mom won?<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />... Mom won.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />What was your score?<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />[inaudible 00:00:29] 103.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />103?<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Yeah. I started strong, but...<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Okay.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Well, it was three digit.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Not going to lie, my hip's a little sore.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Mm-hmm (affirmative). From bowling?<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />From bowling.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Okay. You might need-<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />I'm an old lady, Joey.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sure. I don't know. She's not old. Just the gray hair.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Yeah.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Now Aurora's snow team had a busy start to the week. Lots of snow fall, a reminder of the snow parking ordinance. If it snows two inches or more, you have to move your car from city streets or alleys, or you'll get a ticket.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />So many tickets.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Did you get a ticket?<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />I did not, but I had trouble getting off LaSalle. So we got to get those cars moved, so the team can do their job.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />I know when I lived downtown Chicago and they love that two inches.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Oh, it's ruthless.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />They give you a ticket and they would tow you.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Yeah. I haven't seen so much towing going around. Thank you, Aurora, but they are ticketing just to get people back in the habit.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Okay. Well that makes sense.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Got to do it.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Now another week of temps dropping below zero. Aurora Transportation Center will be open as an overnight warming center.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />This Thursday VNA Health Care is hosting two vaccination events where you can receive your COVID vaccine or booster and a flu shot. You do not need to make an appointment in advance. The first event kicks off from 9:00 AM to 11:00 at New Community Baptist Church, and the second event will run from noon to 2:00 PM. For more info, call 630-585-1308.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />If you need a job, H.B. Fuller has you covered, they're hiring a production operator. The company posted on their Facebook page. The position starts at $15.50 an hour, and get this, has free medical insurance coverage. Go to talkingcitiesaurora.com for a direct link to apply.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />So many people are looking for work. If you are hiring, be sure to let Talking Cities know and we will promote it for you.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Can you imagine being in a court full of your peers? If you're a teenager, Simon Rodriguez, youth services manager for the city. My man, thanks for being here.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Thanks for having me. I'm excited. Thank you.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />You're helping run a really unique program. Can you tell us about that and what it is?<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Absolutely. So the city of Aurora, actually years ago like many municipalities, wanted to be on the forefront of restorative justice. We realized, especially with young people, we don't want to have them in part of a system where they're continuously getting into trouble with the law. So the Youth Court program was developed in the early 2000s as a reactive measure to young people getting involved in gangs and drugs or even small crimes like petty theft, bullying, things of that nature.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />We're able to successfully implement a program that again, many cities throughout our country, have done for years. The data has just shown this to be an amazing successful program to keeping kids out of the justice system.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />I'm a firm believer if you give them something to do after school and get them engaged, that keeps them out of the court system.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Absolutely.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />But this is unique because it is the court system.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />It is.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />So they learn about it? So they learn the different positions?<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Absolutely. Our youth court program is twofold. One aspect, as you mentioned is our peer jury. It's comprised of eighth through 12th grade students in Aurora that volunteer their time. We teach them about the legal system, the court system, and they're actual jurors that they get to ask questions for the participants in the program. They get to learn about what restorative justice is. They're doing their part to help our community grow. I'm very proud of these kids. Again, it's all volunteer and all of these kids have some type of love or appreciation of restorative justice. They want to see their peers not be part of the system and become a statistic.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Yeah, and what about the other end of it? I know as a teenager, let's say I was not necessarily law abiding, but I never got caught. Right?<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />So you avoided this project. Yeah.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />But like the other end. Right? Right. Like the offenders, if you will. Yeah. These are actual people that would normally go into the adult system.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Our respondents, the students that are part of the program that have committed some type of offense, and it's typically 17 and younger. We've seen some kids as young as 10, 11 years old. Essentially the way it works is we work in conjunction with Aurora Police Department and North Aurora Police Department, and their youth detectives who do phenomenal work.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />They believe in restorative justice. They, just like us, don't want to see these kids ending up in the justice system that we know for the most part, statistically speaking, once you're in the system, it's really hard to get out of. What they do is they recommend the youth and their parent to sign off on our program. It gives them an option. You can either go into the regular court system that we know can be costly and can remain on your record for many years, if not forever. They're given the option to also go through our program, which is free of charge to the families, and if done successfully, it over time, it cleans their record and gives them a second chance.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Simon, who funds the program?<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />So it's a City of Aurora funded program. It used to be funded through different types of grants. The city just saw so much merit and value in it that they decided years ago, that this has to be something that we fund. In so many ways it's been successful. It actually is saving the taxpayer money. To avoid folks to going into the regular court system where we know if you don't have the abilities to pay, it's going to be paid somehow, right?<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Our program is a fraction of the price, and it really, again, it saves the taxpayer because most of these young people are going to stay out of the regular court system. So it's very innovative, and it's just something that I strongly believe in. I know our community, those that have found out about it, because a lot of times people don't know about these programs, right. And they think, wow, this is an amazing opportunity for us to be innovative, and a leader in the restorative justice field.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />Well, that's an amazing program, and I know that other cities will probably want to implement this, as you said. Simon, thanks for being here. Appreciate it.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Absolutely. Thank you for having me. I do want to say one more thing. This program would not be possible without our, we actually have a program coordinator. Sandra Sarmiento is a licensed clinician, a counselor. So she oversees the program for us and she does the counseling aspect of it, which also includes a community service portion for the respondent. There is work that they have to do, but again, it adds value to what they're doing, and I'm really proud of the work that she does and everyone that's involved with our youth court.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Absolutely, community in action. This is great.<br /><br />Simon Rodriguez:<br />Yes.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />If you would like to learn how to become a youth court peer juror or about the program in general, visit Aurora-il.org.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Finally, West Aurora High School District 129, is hosting the roaring twenties dinner, dance and silent auction fundraiser on Saturday, February 12th. Perfect. In time for Valentine's Day, if you're interested in attending, you can purchase your tickets today.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />That sounds fun. Aurora, a roaring twenties.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />Oh, we got through a whole episode without a dad joke.<br /><br />Joey Thurman:<br />There we go. That's no... we didn't. That's our episode Talking Cities Aurora, I'm Joey Thurman.<br /><br />Nicole Astra:<br />And I'm Nicole Astra. We'll see you next time.</p>