2 children found living in abandoned bus in Texas

[Bozita]

Source: AP

2 children found living in abandoned bus in Texas
Parents believed to be in prison for embezzling money from Hurricane Ike victims in 2008
Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle via AP
updated 8 minutes ago


SPLENDORA, Texas — Two children who were found living in a stench-filled abandoned school bus near Houston, its windows blocked and the lot around it covered in trash, are in the custody of Texas child welfare workers, officials said Thursday.

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 bus appeared to have electricity, an air conditioning unit installed in one window and bunk beds inside for the children. But several neighbors told the Houston Chronicle that the children typically looked unkempt and could often be spotted running around at night.

"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.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46667284/ns/us_news-life/#.T1jo5RyPZBA

[snappyturtle]

1. Seems to me the neighbors knew of these children. Why in bill blue blazes didn't

they contact CPS? Those poor children. So sad.

[Lasher]

2. The neighbors might not have known these kids were on their own.

The first question that came to my mind was, why didn't the parents tell authorities about these children?

Edit: According to the linked story, a great aunt says she stayed with them every night. The kids said they were being home schooled.

[Skittles]

4. yes - why didn't they try to contact the parents

they would have found out there were no parents available - WTF is wrong with people - not only do they fail to do their duty as human beings, they have no problem telling people they failed

[arely staircase]

43. Splendora, TX

is not a place I suspect folks summon the constabulary unless their own lives are in immediate danger. It is an (almost) exclusively white community characterized by grinding generational poverty - and its accompanying pathologies. Think rebel flags, pit bulls and meth labs and you'll begin to get the idea.

Actually I'm sure CPS goes out there a lot, but probably when a teacher reports something - and these kids weren't enrolled in school. So there you have it. Quite sad.

[wordpix]

56. same reason why cars fled an accident scene I went to recently - "did not want to get involved"

There was an accident right in front of me that was pretty bad and I was lucky not to get hit. I pulled over and ran to cars in the accident to see what I could do, while calling 911 as I was running. Other cars that came upon the accident (which was blocking the road) in both directions did U-turns and went the other way. No one stopped but I.

"I don't want to get involved" is the answer and it's really crummy.

What has this country come to?

[abelenkpe]

3. Hope they find a good

and loving home where they can stay together.

[PotatoChip]

7. My first thought as well.

After all they've been through, hopefully children's services will find a way to keep these two children togethor.

Also, while not excusing the parents, it appears from the linked article that at least one relative (the great aunt) was trying to help, but was working 12 hour shifts from Mon-Fri. Sounds as if poverty was playing a role in the situation. Very sad.

[Smilo]

5. I'm with everyone else - if you see children looking dirty and unkempt and no shoes even in winter

......... and talks to your daughter.

Would you not want to know more about these children, ask your daughter where they live, where are their parents. etc.

So you report them and they are fine - except in this case they weren't - what harm is done.

[happyslug]

19. Remember we are talking of Texas, they is NO local Government outside of Cities

In the North and most of the Rest of the Country (outside the South) even in rural areas we have local rural governments. In my home State of Pennsylvania, when founded by William Penn, was founded into the Provence (now state) of Pennsylvania, which was divided into counties and further divided into townships. If the Local Township form of Government was inadequate local people could form Cities and Boroughs out of those Townships (and those Cities and Boroughs could annex Townships into themselves, through that was a lot easier in the 1800s then today). Thus no matter where you go, they is some sort of local government that you can go to an complain and they can help you to go to the proper authorities.

Unlike Pennsylvania and most of the rest of the US, Texas follows the Southern Tradition of have NO government below the County Level UNLESS it is formed by the Locals (Cities or Boroughs, maybe "Towns" but in rural areas no local government, everything is done at the County Level or not at all). Now, both North and South have SCHOOL DISTRICTS, but in most cases these are independent of whatever other local government that exists. You can have unincorporated "Towns" in either system, but these have NO legal significance, but often a place where businesses tend to set themselves up to handle business from other locals as oppose to a Governmental body.

One of the disadvantage of the Northern/Pennsylvanian system is that you always have a local elected official to deal with. He or she may have no real power, but is an elected official that often coordinates with neighboring local governments, Schools, the County and the State. Thus often you have to see what he says you can or can not do.

On the other hand, in the South, unless you are in an Incorporated City or similar local government, you have the advantage of NOT having to deal with anyone, including having to deal with local Fire and police men which do not exist for they is no local government for them to work for. Thus they is no one to turn to EXCEPT at the County or State level.

Yes, I am being a bit sarcastic about the "interference" of local officials. In many ways such local government do force people to do things they would not otherwise do, like install sewage, or follow some electrical code. On the other hand some of these requirements makes for a overall nicer place to live (i.e. no open sewers and you do not have a house burning down every day). The real disadvantage is things like this School Bus as a home can remain for decades for there is no local government to complaint about it. Thus most of these neighbors may NOT know who to turn these children into, there have NO local Government or police to call and the County Government can be 10-20 miles away.

I use to do Children and Youth Work in Pennsylvania, and many of the Complaints of Neglect were first made to the local police who forwarded them to Children and Youth. Thus if there was no local police, there would be no one LOCALLY one can complain to and if no complaint is made, the situation stays as it is for no one will look into the situation until a complaint is made. In areas without local police, the local Volunteer Fire Department hears some of these complaints as do the Township supervisors who then forward them to Children And Youth.

Sorry, this is one of the problem with living in an Area without local government, something William Penn disliked. Rural Southern tend to like such lack of local Government do to the ability to avoid any local controls, for they will be none. The downside is the lack of any local controls, including someone in local government you can complain to and that person kick the problem to the agency that can do something about it.

[Delphinus]

53. Thank you.

I learned a lot about Texas from your post. Enlightening.

[Speaker]

54. No, you didn't.

There is no place in Texas where you can diall 911 on a connected phone and it won't be answered by law enforcement. If you are in an unincorporated area in Texas the county sheriff will respond. The plight of these children had absolutely nothing to do with a lack of government in Texas.

[happyslug]

58. I did NOT say that, I pointed out no LOCAL Government

Most complains involving children, people do NOT viewed the child as in danger and thus NOT an "emergency". In fact I do not see anything in the article that reaches that level. 911 is NOT to be used ti get information. 911 is NOT for people to call about a sub-standard home. In most parts of the US that is done to the local government who then contacts Children and youth. Police may be involved but generally are not, for the children are not in danger that very minute, thus they is no one to arrest for no crime is being done. Going without shoes, only bathing twice a week are not CRIMES, even in Texas. Thus 911 is NOT used for the problem is deeper and needs investigation and that is NOT done by the local Police nor the County Sheriff. Thus the comment that 911 is available is true, but irrelevant. This is like reporting an abandoned shack as a fire hazard, if it is NOT on fire you do NOT call 911 to report the shack, you call your local Government, and in much of the Rural South there is no local Government so no one to file a compliant with, and that lack of local government means no one LOCALLY to complain to, so nothing is done.

[proud2BlibKansan]

64. There is a child abuse hot line in all 50 states.

The presence or lack of local govt doesn't really matter in this case.

[happyslug]

66. So what? How do you find out about it if you do NOT know about it.

Generally through some local government official who tells the person who to call. You can NOT call, if you do NOT know the hot line, and most people do NOT. I get calls from people and I have to forward them to my local Children And Youth, how does a person who do NOT know who to call, finds out who to call? In many cases it is by calling a local official that they know. Something that is missing is much of Rural Texas and the rest of the South.

[proud2BlibKansan]

67. Google it

That's the easiest way to find anything.

[happyslug]

70. How can a person who has no Computer "google it"????

We are NOT talking about a typical person on DU, someone who has some experience with government other then being arrested (and as such reluctant to call any law enforcement officer). If all the Great Aunt could afford was a bus, how could she afford a Computer? let alone internet access. If that was true of the bus the children were living in, how are the other families in the area? The School bus did have electricity and an air conditioner, but nothing more is mentioned and I doubt you had more. Abandon buses do NOT appear in suburban cul-de-sacs, but do appear in the boondocks.

Just pointing out that the idea that someone can "Google" something, implies that the person knows how to use a Computer and the Internet, something that is NOT universal and there are areas no one has access to a computer outside of the local School (And that may be limited). Maybe among the people you know, they can Google something, but that is asking more then many people can do.

[arely staircase]

60. that will come a quite a surprise to my county commissioners' court, county judge, county sheriff,

constables, justices of the peace, local department of public saftey troopers (one of whom is running for sheriff right now), county tax collector, school board members, and all the people who work for state agencies - like cps, who is currently investigating this matter.

oh, i almost forgot. it was a government employee who discovered and reported this. do you think the people who deliver the mail to splendora fly down from washington dc with it every day?

[happyslug]

61. A FEDERAL Government Employee

In my area such cases are almost always discovered by LOCAL Government Officials looking into the condition of the Home. That is something done at a LOCAL LEVEL, not a county or state level. Who at your County Level would you complain to of someone living in a bus? Who would you complain to at the State or County Level of an abandoned bus? That is generally handled at the LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL, something that does NOT exist in Texas or the South outside of the Cities. School boards do NOT handle it, nor do State agencies, thus it is generally done by Local Government or not at all, as appears to be the case here until a FEDERAL EMPLOYEE reported the situation to a COUNTY official.

[arely staircase]

62. well, i would consider the county gov. to be local, but even within

unicorporated county areas there are constables and justices of the peace, so your assertion that there is no local government outside the cities just isn't true, even if you don't count the county. the probable reason nobody called is not because there was nobody to call, clearly there was, because cps was called. if you were to pan the cameras around that have photgraphed that bus you would see that most of the houses around it look no more enticing than the bus. splendora is a community that, as i've alreday posted, is characterized by grinding generational poverty and its pathologies. it is a hotbed of aryan brotherhood activity and methamphetamine production. THAT is why nobody "called the law" as we say. that and the fact the neighbors probably didn't think the bus was a bad place for th kids to live, because relative to their own houses it isn't - unless you consider tar paper to be a step up from a metal bus. hell i'd probably rather live on the bus.

[Xithras]

68. Not just Texas. That's the case in most of the west.

You actually have it a bit backward when you assume that the Northeast does it "normally", and the south does it "strangely". The New England states borrowed those concepts from old England, and they spread to some of the midwest, but the concepts of "townships" and "boroughs" are uncommon in the rest of the country.

I grew up in California and was a teenager before I ever heard the term "township". Out here, you have city governments with defined urban boundaries, and county governments which can cover thousands of square miles. There's generally nothing in between. Small unincorporated communities do exist, but they answer directly to the counties and rarely (if ever) have any kind of formal government. Some of these can be quite large. I lived just outside of Salida California for years, which has existed since the 1870's and has a population of over 13,000 people. In spite of its age and size, it has no government of its own, no police force, and is entirely dependent on the county government for its services. It's residents have voted to form independent sanitary districts to handle sewer and garbage, and a local elementary school district, but it completely lacks any sort of mayor, council, or local government. There are no zoning laws, no local ordinances, and new regulations impacting the community are passed using direct democracy. When the county decided to stop paying the electric bill for the street lights in Salida a number of years ago, the residents had to vote on whether or not to form another utility district to collect special taxes to run them. The residents voted against it, and the cities streets went dark for months (rising crime rates eventually forced the residents to reconsider, and they formed the district in a later election). It's not an anachronism either...the majority of the houses in Salida are less than 20 years old. In fact, a brand new "town" called Mountain House was established north of us only about 10 years ago. An entirely new town without any sort of government (most of it's "laws" come from HOA rules in the various neighborhoods that have been built). In the western U.S., this is considered a fairly normal thing. I don't know if the legal mechanisms even exist in California to create a "township" in the Eastern sense.

[xxqqqzme]

6. 11 and FIVE?

An 11 yr old watching after a 5 yr old during the day. - Ike was in '08 so the 5 yr old was 1? The parents are jailed since when? The article says the children have been living in the bus since the first of the year. Have they been w/ the great aunt since the parents were jailed? The aunt works 12 hr shifts? So low or minimum wage, probably not enough to live on. Sounds like all 3 were living in the bus.

[Quantess]

8. So there was no adult caring for them? That's what it sounds like.

How does something like this go unnoticed for so long?

[happyslug]

10. There was a Adult, but she was working 12 hour shifts

Read the Article, that fact is mentioned in the complete article but NOT in the cited snip.

[Quantess]

13. Oh, now I see it.

12 hour shifts Monday through Friday, which would add up to 60 hours per week. And yet they all live in a bus. Hmm, very interesting. Or could it be, the aunt lives in a real home, and the kids live in the bus? In any case, it sounds a lousy childhood for those kids.

[happyslug]

9. The Children were with an ADULT

Further on in the Article it reads:

The children told Texas Child Protective Services workers that they were home-schooled. A woman on the property — believed to be the children's great-aunt — told CPS she worked 12-hour shifts Monday through Friday but that she stayed with the children at night.

If that was the case, then as far as the Law was concerned, they was an adult present and Children Welfare had no jurisdiction UNLESS gross negligent was found. Going barefoot and having dirty clothes do not by themselves make the house unfit for the Children. If that was the case, everyone on Welfare would lose custody of their Children do to NOT have enough money to buy them new clothes given how much welfare pays a parent to keep a child.. The LARGEST Welfare Grant possible for a family of three in Texas is only $241.

http://jfs.athenscountygovernment.com/documents/AmericasPoorestChildren.updated10-09.pdf

Given now low Welfare payments are in Texas (And elsewhere in the US) The "Great Aunt" was working 12 hours shifts and only could afford to live in an abandoned bus?? Somethings is wrong here, and it is more then the children being "Home Schooled", it is a complete breakdown in the social safety net. Where was Child Welfare given the accusations of neglect, before the Post Office stepped in?? I must remember that, if I suspect a case of Child Neglect in Texas it is better to call the Post Office then anyone else, at least the Post Office will recognize neglect and do something about it.

[LisaL]

20. What are you talking about?

If she works 12 hour shifts, these children are left alone for long periods of time with no one to take care of them.

[happyslug]

25. Under the law, that is sufficient

In most states, a 11 year old can be on her own, i.e. does NOT require a babysitter OR be in daycare, and can watch a five year old. This is the WELFARE rule in almost every state for the STATE does NOT want to pay for Daycare unless the STATE has to. You can dislike this rule, but it is the rule in every state that I know of.

Now Children and Youth dislikes the above rule, but like the rule of Corporate punishment (another rule Children and Youth dislikes) it is LEGAL unless Children and youth can show ACTUAL NEGLECT.

One of the problems with Children and yYuth hearings being closed to the Public, a lot of people do NOT understand HOW the law is applied to situations like this. Public Welfare main purpose is NOT to protect Children but to keep the cost of such protection to a Minimum, thus these children are in a household that makes to much money for Welfare payments (Through they may be on the CHIP program), thus a huge deference to parents when it comes to raising their children. Unless there is clear evidence of neglect, and getting a bath twice a week, wearing "dirty" clothes etc is NOT neglect. Even leaving the children out in the "Winter" without shoes may NOT be neglect (This is Texas, which is in a drought. thus temperatures all winter has been WELL above freezing).

I use to handle Children and Youth Cases, and I have NOT read anything that shows true neglect. The bus HAD air Conditioning, it had electricity, it had water, it had heat. All of that shows a LACK of neglect. Is is an optimum housing situation?, NO, but I also do NOT think it meets the legal definition of Neglect. If you would have over heard some actual Children and Youth Cases you would know that, but such cases are closed to the Public thus most people do NOT hear of them.

One more thing to think about, the eldest child was age 11, Texas is state the recognize Common Law Marriages, in the late 1990s, Pennsylvania (Which at that time also recognized common law marriages) ruled that a Child at age 12 could enter into a valid common law marriage. Thus when a Teacher had sex with his 12 year old female student, the fact that both of them said they had exchanged vows made it a valid common law marriage even if the 12 year old's parents did NOT agree to it. Since it was a Valid Common Law Marriage, the sex was legal between the Teacher and the 12 year old.

At least one Colorado Court has taken notice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Decision in that case, and pointed out that Colorado had the same Common Law Marriage rules as Pennsylvania and thus such a marriage would be valid in Colorado. I have NOT read of any comment from the Texas Court System, but Texas is another Common Law Marriage state, and as such the 11 year old could be within a year of being able to enter into a valid Common Law Marriage (This is dependent on how Texas wrote its law on marriage, if 18 is the cut off on all marriages, OR the cut off on Ceremonial marriages only, that was the situation in Pennsylvania and apparently Colorado).

Please note, Common Law Marriages are VALID marriages in those states that recognize them. There is no such thing as a Common Law Divorce, if a couple is married under the common law they must use the regular divorce law to get a divorce.

Just a comment, that a lot of people do NOT understand the law regarding minors, and that they vary based on the State the minor is in AND the age of the minor.

One more comment, emancipation of Minors. Many states have adopted statures of when and how a minor could be emancipated from his or her parents. many states have not, Pennsylvania is one of those states that have NOT, thus it is possible for this 11 year old to be an emancipated minor, a minor no longer under the Care, Control or Supervision of his or her parents do to the act of his or her parents. The fact that the child's parents are in Jail, can be a "Judaical" act of the parent that they are no longer doing "care, Control or Supervision" of that child. There is NO bottom age for such emancipation. but a Child must go to school in Pennsylvania till he or she is 17 years of age (But an emancipated Minor can do that, i.e. go to school) and the Common Law rule of children below age 7 are presumed to be incompetent to enter contracts comes into play. Age 14 is the age where the law presumes a child is competent as an adult (Between age 7 and 14 it is on a case to case basis, but in Merry old England in the 1600s they did hanged a 7 year old boy for a crime subject to the punishment of hanging, when the court ruled he was competent as a 14 year old).

Do I dislike these laws? Yes, but I also have to deal with them. Now the US Supreme Court has ruled we can no longer execute people below age 18, but the Court has NEVER ruled on the issue of when a child can NOT be emancipated. Now, the State have passed laws saying it has jurisdiction over Children below age 18, but that includes not only emancipation minors but emancipated minors. Such Jurisdiction applies only if the child is "endangered" i.e. if the emancipated minor is NOT "endangered" then State has no jurisdiction over him or her.

Yes, Juvenal law has its logic, but it has been more on what works then anything else, and that in olden days teenagers were part of the work force (For example during the Great Depression Unemployment numbers was for people over age 14, it was NOT changed to the present over 17 level to 1947). Given that they is no one to lobby the state legislature to change the law, it is NOT changed unless something hits the headlines (The above case involving a 12 year getting married was one of the grounds for Pennsylvania abolishing people from entering into Common Law Marriages after 1/1/2005. Thus the law is a mess, but it is something I have worked with and have a decent understanding of.

[LisaL]

26. Under what law its sufficient?

Give me a break.

[happyslug]

59. You should check your state's Welfare Regulations

Regulations ARE the law unless their violate the underlying statute the authorize the regulations.

[DeschutesRiver]

72. Even though some can't comprehend what you are saying, it is great that you are

giving a much more detailed glimpse into the situation.

I see that some people really think that because they find something personally abhorent, that it means there MUST be a law against it. Or if there is a law against something, it WILL always be enforced.

Your patience on continuing to explain this issue is a virtue that I don't possess in such great quantities as you do but I do admire it. Esp. with this subject, because it is far more complicated than it appears on the surface.

[Horse with no Name]

37. Thank you for taking the time to say this

Poverty is ugly. Of that, there is no doubt. With the economy in Texas and the sheer percentage of children that live in it is astronomical.

Yes, this story is sad but I am pretty certain that it is repeated exponentially in this state. This is just one incident--but it is a side effect of poverty.


http://www.cppp.org/category.php?cid=10
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A new report and analysis released today by the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) shows in the wake of a massive revenue shortfall the proposed state budget will invest $10 billion less in Texas kids over the next two years, even while more of the state's children live in poverty, have no health insurance, and are born too early and too small. The state is approximately $27 billion short of what it needs to write a budget that funds all essential services at current levels.

>>>>snip
Texas ranks in the bottom third of states—34th nationally—in a state-by-state study of our children's well-being, according to the 2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book. The study reveals that Texas has the third highest teen birth rate in the nation, and a child poverty rate well above the rest of the U.S.

[happyslug]

39. I remember the CHIP program and then Governor Bush of Texas

Children, Infant, insurance program was a program that started in Western Pennsylvania in the 1980s. The Denominational Ministry Strategy (DMS) had been causing problem for US Steel since US Steel closed down its plants in the early 1980s. DMA kept asking the same questions, how do you help the people who were laid off and then could NOT find another job? Studies have shown that most people get jobs through friends and relatives, but when the Steel Plants went down, everyone's friends and relatives were also laid off, thus how to find them employment, keep their homes AND pay for medical care.

This had an affect on the various charities in Western Pennsylvania. While many opposed the very aggressive actions of DMS, they supported the ideas behind DMS, and worse people were asking them how are they going to address the issue that DMS were pointing out.

In response, the charities decided to form what later became CHIPS. At first this was a non-government program, but soon the State joined in. The key was it helped those people who were NOT eligible for Welfare, but needed medical care for their children.

Soon afterward, Congress adopted the program with the same requirement, it was to help people over the Welfare guidelines but still needed help getting their Children Medical care. Congress decided to 100% fund the CHIP program unlike Welfare which is the Federal Government MATCHES whatever the State pays.

This is were Bush came in. CHIPS was extended to Texas, and it was advertised for people to apply for it. The problem was the number one reason people were denied CHIP was they were eligible for WELFARE (They income was to low, but had never applied for welfare). To then Governor Bush this was a problem, for while CHIP was 100% federally funded, the State of Texas had to pay 50% of the cost of someone on Welfare. Thus the welfare budget for Texas increased.

Bush "Solution" to this was to demand that if someone applied for CHIPS and was denied do to his or her income being to low, they had to come back another day to apply for Welfare. This was proposed KNOWING most poor people would NOT want to come back a second day. This is how Bush handle the problem of to many people being rejected for CHIPS because they income was TO LOW.



More on the Pastor Daniel Solberg, the religious leader behind DMS by his brother, the Actor David Soul (Solberg is NEVER mentioned as being the reason we have CHIPS):

http://www.davidsoul.com/thefightingministers.html

More on DMS in the 1980s:
http://www.library.pitt.edu/labor_legacy/deindustrializationDMS.htm
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-02-22/news/8601140084_1_western-pennsylvania-west-virginia-synod-defrocking-rev-daniel-solberg

The Other great program to come out of the Collapse of the Steel Industry in the 1980s was the Home Owners Mortgage Emergency Program. This program was started after the Sheriff of Allegheny County Pennsylvania (County Seat ittsburgh) refused to put home up for "Sheriff sale" when the home owners fell behind in mortgage payments do to the lost of their jobs. A GREAT program, if you could show you fell behind do to no fault of your own AND you are expected to get back on your feet within three years (later reduced to two years in the early 1990s, then back to three years as unemployment exceeded 8%), the state would PAY your mortgage for that three year period, the mortgage company could NOT foreclose while you applied for the Assistance (and before any foreclosure could start, a notice informing the home owner of the program had to be mailed by the bank holding the Mortgage. This permitted many a home owner to keep their home. A second lien was put on the home to pay back the money the state paid, but most people rather pay such second mortgage then lose their home.

HEMAP was cancelled last year in Pennsylvania do to the GOP wanting to balance the budget without a tax increase. Thus HEMAP was cancelled in Pennsylvania while other states was looking at it as a solution to the mortgage debacle.

Two program that help a lot of people, that the GOP have tried to kill. There is a war on the poor and the attack on these two programs shows it.

[firehorse]

24. the kids are experiencing gross neglect, thats grounds for foster care

[happyslug]

47. Have you done Children and Youth work? I have, and nothing in the article shows gross neglect.

I have DONE work with Children and Youth and I have seen children in similar situations, this is NOT an ideal home, but it meets MINIMUM requirements. IT is dry, has electricity, water, Sewerage, heat and air Conditioning. That meets the minimum requirements under the law and unless something else is wrong, the children should be return to this Great Aunt.

Remember I am going by the ARTICLE, and dirty clothes, no shoes in a warm environment (we are talking of Texas) and bathing just twice a week does NOT indicate GROSS NEGLECT. If that was the case, most people falling on hard times would lose their children, be forced to pay CHILD SUPPORT to whoever ends up with the Children (including the State if the Children end up in some sort of boarding school) and the State of Texas would have to raise taxes to pay not only for the extra caseworkers BUT the money that would be needed to ease the problems.

Please note I am NOT arguing that this is anywhere near to be where these children should be, but if that is stated is what is stated in the Article, that is NOT enough for removal of the Children from this home. The bus had water, heat, Air Conditioning, electricity etc, thus meets the bare definition of a habitable home. We may not think so, but it appears to do so.

[firehorse]

48. did you look at the bus? filthy, no water, lacking food, trash everywhere...

and right now they are in foster care.

Their aunt is not taking care of them properly. They are not in school, they are not bathed, they are not getting enough food, and where they sleep is filthy.

They deserve better, a clean safe place, adults to care for them, food, etc.

[JAbuchan08]

49. Maybe we should just criminalize poverty

That would certainly keep situations like this from occuring

[DeschutesRiver]

71. This wasn't a personal opinon of Happyslug - it was the law's position. nt

[Throckmorton]

52. Sad, but True.

As a DCF emergency placement foster parent (we take grade school aged children) what you say is so true. The minimum standards for child removal in Connecticut are below this line. Even that being the case, my wife and I turn down 2 to 5 children a month that need placement, we just dont have the room for more than 3, with our 3 children we already have (bio and adopted).

What I have seen in the past 4 years makes this look mild.

[flamingdem]

11. Eyes Open

This is how many millions of children live in the third world. In fact such a bus might be a luxury to them.

In spite of poverty many families prefer to stay together, even if it's an extended family. I hope they keep
the kids together.

[hunter]

14. This is how many children live in the U.S.A.

The U.S.A. is not a "first world" nation, it's the top dog banana republic with fancy suits and nuclear weapons.

As the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer we continue the backwards slide that began with the election of Ronald Reagan and peak oil U.S.A..

[southerncrone]

29. You are so correct!

[flamingdem]

33. I do not think you've seen much of the third world

Not that I disagree with the problems you mention and the direction the USA is going ... BUT
it's another thing to see the way the poor live when there is zero government help.

At least the USA has some safety net left, for now!

Food stamps in many countries would be actual life savers.

[hunter]

35. We're not "third world"

We're more like the other nations of the Americas... maybe excluding Canada.

Until we have a national health care system and much stronger social safety nets we will remain the same socially stratified and apartheid nation we've always been.

Within less than twenty minutes walking distance from where I write there are people living in shacks and shanties the equivalent of any you might find in Mexico or Brazil.

And all over the U.S.A. there are high crime neighborhoods which are something worse, places where people live in fear amidst a decaying community infrastructure and a stifling atmosphere of hopelessness.

[Selatius]

51. What's crippling the US is privately-funded elections.

If the US had adopted a public election mechanism like the nations of Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, etc. we'd actually be closer to Canada in terms of living standards than Mexico, especially with millions of people living in poverty including children and nearly 50,000,000 without health insurance.

It's the money. It always has been. It's why Congress simply passed a health insurance bill with no Public Option. It's why my state requires that I make less than 400/month before I could get, for instance, Medicaid. That's ludicrously low. A lot of things are skewed towards the interests of the rich. Poor people, frankly, don't have the money to elect people who look after them.

[xtraxritical]

38. Amen brotha. eom

[wordpix]

57. +10000

[bayareaboy]

12. So did these children fall through the cracks in the social net?

We just got to figure that the cracks are lot bigger in Tex-land.

[Arugula Latte]

17. But Mitt Romney's not concerned about that.

That social net -- it's there for them. Sure it has giant gaping holes in it and little children fall through and hit the muddy ground hard, but, hey, he can't worry his beautiful mind about that.

[Quantess]

15. Here's a video link:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/children-found-living-abandoned-bus-texas-15874754#.T1kFBzH2a8A

[Snake Alchemist]

16. Great Aunt? Where are the kids parents, aunts, and uncles? nt

[LisaL]

18. Parents are apparently in prison.

[Snake Alchemist]

21. Both of them? Do you have a link to the info? nt

[LisaL]

22. The info is in the OP.

[Snake Alchemist]

23. Their parents are believed to be in prison for embezzling money from Hurricane Ike victims in 2008.

Yikes. Just caught it.

[southerncrone]

30. If the parents are in prison, didn't the state assign a guardian for the kids

when they were incarcerated?

[Snake Alchemist]

32. Excellent question.

I find it hard to believe they just gave them to the "not so" great aunt.

[LisaL]

42. I imagine the parents didn't want children to go to foster care so they probably

haven't told the state about the children.

[southerncrone]

27. Children in our society today are disposable.

The parents don't want the responsibility of raising the kids. My guess is even if parents weren't in prison, the kids would not be much better off.....perhaps worse.

Most likely parents didn't want these kids to begin with, but abortion is too expensive & a big NO-NO in TX.

Expect more of this type thing in the future.
Once the baby is born, Repubs don't care what happens to it.

I suggest Rick Perry adopt them.

[Snake Alchemist]

28. I suspect that there never were any kids.

They were the ghosts of kids 50 years ago who haunt that bus.

As long as we're making things up.

[southerncrone]

31. Who is making things up?

[DFW]

34. Or, as we call it in Texas........

"Hotel Republicana"

[Galraedia]

36. US Postal Workers...

they'll deliver your mail and find your abandoned children.

[Art_from_Ark]

40. Wow, this sounds like a real-life version of "The Boxcar Children"

I hope there is a "Mr. Alden" who can give these kids a good home.

[Odin2005]

44. I thought the same thing, I loved those books when I was a kid in ther 90s.

[joshcryer]

50. First thing I thought of, but without the older sibblings.

[blondie58]

41. those poor children

That is no way to grow up.

As a retired member of NALC branch #47, this is another thing that would be affected if the Post Office is destroyed.
We really are the eyes and ears of the neighborhood. In my monthly union magazine, the mailbag,, there are always stories about the little old lady, who had fallen and her carrier noticed that her mail was piling up. Or the carrier who rushed into a burning building to save some children. The list goes on and on.
Please support HB1351!!
Save the Post Offfice!

I sincerely hope that everything turns out ok for the kids.

[Odin2005]

45. !!!!!!!!!!!!

[asfghjkyu]

46. Spam deleted by uppityperson (MIR Team)

[madokie]

55. Talk about a failed system we have one

and as more and more services is cut the worse it will get.
f**k the pukes and the corporations they rode in on

[CTyankee]

63. we are a third world country.

This sounds Dickensian. At least Oliver Twist had an orphanage to sleep in at night.

What a hideous place our country has become...

[midnight]

65. I read this a couple of days ago, and realized that the parents were most likely in prison...

But it appears that is still an unknown... And it is still unknown how we as a society can know that our children know children who don't have shoes or clean clothes...and we go on as if this is acceptable... God I can't wait till it is illegal to use source code in our voting precincts that is under the control of corporations and not the people....

[LisaL]

69. They are in prison and it has been known from the beginning.