TX - 2 children living in bus parents in prison

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...ing-grid7|hp-laptop|dl1|sec1_lnk3&pLid=141980

A postal worker discovered the children, ages 11 and 5, at the bus in Splendora about 10 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. Their parents are believed to be in prison for embezzling money from Hurricane Ike victims in 2008. The children are not enrolled at local schools.

"The aunt said that she does provide meals for them during the day," Montgomery County Constable Rowdy Hayden told KTRK-TV. "Looking around the (the bus), we didn't see a lot of food readily available. One of the neighbors had told us earlier that from time to time she will bring food over for the children."

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What a good Samaritan this neighbor was, she took them food from time to time. Are you freakin' kidding me? An 11 year old and a 5 year old living alone in freakin' trashy bus and she takes them a meal or two! :doh: They should put her in jail for being too stupid to call the police and report the abandoned children! GAH!

"They always had dirty clothes on (and) no shoes, even in the winter," said nearby resident Gayla Payne, who said the 11-year-old girl told her daughter that she bathes twice a week.

what is wrong with people not getting these children in school and foster care???

So sad. When parents are removed from their children to go to prison, CPS should do a better job of following up to see that they're taken care of.

It's not clear that these children will fare better in foster care than they did under the care of their great aunt in that bus. So very sad.

JeannaT said:

So sad. When parents are removed from their children to go to prison, CPS should do a better job of following up to see that they're taken care of.

It's not clear that these children will fare better in foster care than they did under the care of their great aunt in that bus. So very sad.

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Great aunt who worked 12 hours a day while children were alone on the bus and who didn't even send them to school? I think it's pretty easy to beat that.

Okay, even if you aren't up on your local municipal phone numbers, as far as the child welfare system, it's not that hard to call 911.

The girls hair is matted, and that means she will have her head shaved. They didn't have adequate clothes, shoes, hygiene necessities, or even food. They lived in a bus, FGS, and no one really saw anything wrong with this.

Thank God the mail carrier finally caught on to what was happening, and actually made that call, because if it were left to the neighbors, they'd be 30, and still living on the bus!

Some of the articles say that the mother will be released next month, and say that she states she'll be coming to take care of her kids. Of course, the state is required to give her visitation and work towards getting the family back together. It's obvious that's where they are going, as CPS makes it clear that they don't really mind that the kids were living in a bus (WTH, it's a bus, I'd be concerned).
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...ndoned-bus-texas-15874754?page=2#.T1oKYvES1Yg

The 11 year old didn't know how to sign her name, so I wonder if the kids have ever been in school. The kids will definitely have challenges, all that could have been avoided, but now will test them for the rest of their lives.

This breaks my heart. Where was the aunt living?? And why did she think it was okay for the kids to stay in a bus?? Why didn't neighbors report this?

Hopeful One said:

This breaks my heart. Where was the aunt living?? And why did she think it was okay for the kids to stay in a bus?? Why didn't neighbors report this?

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The aunt was living there, when she wasn't at work.

It's a surprise to me too that neighbors didn't report this. The neighbors clearly knew the kids were not in school, didn't have any adult supervision all day long, and didn't have shoes in the winter. They've been living there apparently since the beginning of January.

I will say there are areas of my surrounding county where the houses look like something I myself could make, all by myself, with found materials. They're more like permanent campsites than dwelling structures. I wonder what the condition of the other homes in the neighborhood of this bus look like.

Here's a further article with a lot of detailed information. All through the article I found myself saying wow.

http://www.chron.com/default/articl...lived-in-old-bus-to-3393447.php#photo-2600359

More information on the criminal case against the Shortens:

https://www.facebook.com/KLFYTV10/posts/326345274071646

Why didn't she take them in and care for them??? Especially if she was their AUNT!!!

momtective said:

What a good Samaritan this neighbor was, she took them food from time to time. Are you freakin' kidding me? An 11 year old and a 5 year old living alone in freakin' trashy bus and she takes them a meal or two! :doh: They should put her in jail for being too stupid to call the police and report the abandoned children! GAH!

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Sha said:

Why didn't she take them in and care for them??? Especially if she was their AUNT!!!

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No, neighbor was not their aunt.

Texas couple with 2 kids on old bus makes progress

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ws_id=19270599&src=most_popular_viewed&page=1

SPLENDORA, Texas (AP) — The parents of two young children discovered living virtually unsupervised in an old school bus in Southeast Texas had been looking forward to the prospect of regaining full custody of their kids.

Child welfare officials have said they are delighted with the commitment Mark and Sherrie Shorten have shown since their kids were found last year while the couple was in federal prison.

But the Shortens were left puzzled after Child Protective Services officials told them a court hearing Tuesday was unlikely to result in them regaining full custody of their 12-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.............

Agency spokeswoman Gwen Carter said last week the children had been attending school and the parents have complied with CPS care plans, evaluations and therapy.

"They're doing really well and the family is doing really well," she said. "The staff is very proud of them."

But Monday evening, she called expectations that CPS would recommend dismissal "a misunderstanding."

"It's down on the books as a regular hearing," she said. "We'll report how the family is doing and proceed from there."............more at link......

This is a confusing story.

"Conspiring to embezzle"? I'm curious.

I'm also curious how the state could convict and imprison both parents of two minor children, without even glancing around to see if the children had someone to care for them.

There are few details here in how the parents now intend to care for them, but a school bus with electricity and a bathroom isn't very different from a small trailer, in my opinion.

Parents win full custody of kids found in 2011 living alone on old school bus in Houston area

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...9b-f23c246aa446_singlePage.html?tid=obnetwork

CONROE, Texas — Nearly a year after their two children were found living virtually unsupervised in an old school bus in Southeast Texas, the parents regained full custody of their kids Tuesday when a judge dismissed a child welfare case against them.

“It feels really good,” said Sherrie Shorten, of Splendora, after she and her husband, Mark, stood before Judge Jerry Winfree at a hearing that lasted only a few minutes. “This is just one more thing we’ve gotten resolved.”.............

“CPS was absolutely right to take then kids when it did,” the family’s attorney, Chris Branson, said. “The aunt obviously dropped the ball and was neglecting these kids and it was the proper thing to take these kids into custody. However, the parents got out of jail, they fixed the problem, they cleaned up the property and the situation should have been over at that point.”

Sherrie Shorten and her husband also have been fulfilling a care plan and attending counseling and therapy. The family was reunited last September under CPS watch, and still lives on the bus.

John Lockwood, an assistant attorney general and counsel for Child Protective Services, told Winfree that authorities recommended “strongly” the case against the couple be dismissed................

The recommendation for dismissal had been anticipated, then reversed late Monday in what Child Protective Services officials described as a miscommunication, and then reversed again..............more at link.......

I think that's a good resolution. These parents do seem to love their kids.

It does seem that middle class married parents who are focused on the kids are a dying breed in this country. I've seen worse parents than these. Including 17 year old girls who say "me and my boyfriend are trying to get pregnant".

God help us.

Despite its worn appearance, the bus inside had been renovated, furnished, had hot and cold water and a bathroom, and was air-conditioned.
The family moved it from Louisiana after their home there was flooded from Hurricane Ike.
It was intended as a temporary home until they could build on the lot.

The Shortens had arranged with an aunt to care for the children while they were imprisoned but the woman told authorities her 12-hour workdays and caring for the children had overwhelmed her.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...9b-f23c246aa446_singlePage.html?tid=obnetwork