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CPS OUT OF “BUS FAMILY’S” LIfe

“We’re through. We get to go home,” Mark Shorten said smiling as he exited the courtroom Tuesday morning. “We’re not going to Disneyland.” He describes the family’s ordeal with Child Protective Services as being like a rollercoaster.

“We’re a family again. From here, it’s one day at a time, just getting back to living,” Shorten said.

Chris Branson, the shorten family’s attorney, says “The case took a lot of hard work by the parents. They were diligent in working with CPS as much as necessary with fixing the problem they had once they got out of prison.”

Branson specializes in handling these types of cases, and estimates 95 percent of his practice is in this area. The notoriety of the Shorten family’s case is unique and caught attention he had not anticipated. He says the process is not unique, however. CPS took custody of the kids, the parents cooperated to CPS’s satisfaction, and CPS returned the children.

“What was unique about the case is that the parents were never accused of any wrongdoing,” Branson said. “They were in prison; they had done the responsible thing in leaving the children with a family member.”

That family member dropped the ball and left the kids in terrible conditions, he said. “CPS was right in taking the kids when they did; it was definitely a neglect situation.”

“When the parents got out of prison, they immediately took action, immediately fixed the problem,” Branson said. “The case should have been over that day. However, it doesn’t work that way once kids are in CPS custody. “

Branson said parents must fight to have their children returned in those cases, and he sees it often, along with situations where parents are divorced and there has been an accusation against one parent.

Branson says the non-offending parent, despite having no criminal history or CPS history, has to fight to prove that he or she is worthy of having their child, even though they did nothing to have them taken away in the first place.

Sherrie Shorten, hugging her son Chance tightly as they left the courtroom, said she felt helpless trying to fight the situation from prison. She was served with papers and tried to respond to the situation while handwriting all correspondence. There is no access to copiers in prison, she said, and phone calls are difficult due to the need to pre-schedule them.

She assured Chance everything was “okay” just before he slipped away from all the excitement of reporters asking his mom and dad questions. Chance was tired, but smiling as he slipped into a nearby chair.

Sherri and Mark Shorten’s daughter Jessica said “I’m very happy,” and feels it is the end of the long ordeal. She said she was nervous when living in foster homes and attending new schools but is very excited now that she’s home with her family and attending Splendora schools. Jessica has a “really good college plan” and is among the top students in her class.

She is scheduled to take a placement test to “skip the seventh grade entirely and move up to eighth grade” and will be tested for the Gifted & Talented program. Jessica aspires to become a video game designer someday.

Chris Branson says sometimes foster homes are “what’s advertised- the grandparent with an extra bedroom and a big heart,” but sometimes you get a “foster warehouse where it’s the livelihood of the foster parents”.

“Sometimes the kids are there for good reason,” Branson said. “They’ve been sexually abused and they act out and sometimes attack other children. It can be a real nightmare.”

Foster parents are compensated per child, per day and the amount varies with the level of care required. Typically there are six or seven children in per home.

When asked how she felt about the outcome, Sherrie Shorten said, “The hearing today was just one more thing we have gotten resolved. We’re ready to put our family together and keep moving forward.”

“I’m glad it’s over with,” she said. “Now we can focus on activities the kids want to be involved in.”

Mark Shorten said sometimes policies get in the way of common sense.

The ordeal of getting the kids back took away from time spent with their kids. Although Sherrie Shorten does not mind visitors, unannounced visits and phone calls from CPS constantly interrupted the family’s routine.

The Shortens feel they tried to work with the system and follow the rules. Sherrie Shorten says going to church has helped them. When Mark Shorten returned home from prison, he put together a plan that opened up communications with CPS, who agreed to the plan and thought it was workable. Both children have been living with their parents since September 28.

How did the Shorten family end up living in a bus? During hurricane Rita the family experienced life in a FEMA trailer after facing mandatory evacuation. Mark Shorten turned the bus into an RV so they would be able to evacuate when the next storm hit.

When the children expressed their desire to no longer live in a flood zone, the family decided to head for higher ground and live in the bus until they could build a permanent home.

Mark Shorten chose the bus because he felt it was safe after researching accidents involving busses that ended up submerged in water.

“It never lets what’s on the outside in; it keeps it out. It keeps what’s inside safe even though it’s stationary and not on the highway,” he said.

During recent storms, a tree limb fell on top of the bus but barely dented it.

As the Shorten family stood outside the courtroom, Mark Shorten was handed an order stating “the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services no longer desires to pursue its cause of action at this time”.

When the children asked what he was reading, he handed them the paper. After inspecting it thoroughly, they both smiled.

Chris Branson says the case is dismissed and the “books are closed.”

Mark Shorten said he planned to go home, hug his children, keep them close, and watch them grow. Sherrie Shorten and the children said they planned to take a nap.

 

 

 

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