WOOD COUNTY, Texas — There are not many businesses like Shared Time, but it's the kind that's needed.
Many different reasons can lead to parents not seeing their kids, and when that happens, a place like Shared Time can offer staff that is specialized in supervised visitations, a safe exchange program and 16 different classes.
"We watch the kids and the parents interact and take notes on what's going on, report back to the courts or the attorneys," Shared Time Owner Bobbie Kuhn said.
Shared Time has been open for around a year and they're the only facility of its kind in Wood County.
Kuhn says they started with mediations but after learning more from families about their situations they wanted to do more.
"We wanted to create more of a, like a play area that's inviting for the kids," Kuhn said. "It's hard enough anyway for them to be in the situation. We just want to treat them like human beings and help these kids as much as we can."
Kuhn says a big part of why they opened in the first place is because they wanted to make these types of resources more affordable.
"We were floored by how much the families were being charged to see their kids," Kuhn said. "So we decided to make it affordable and make it fun for the kids."
For supervised visitations, they charge $50 to each parent for an intake and after charge $20 an hour.
"When they're charged a couple $100 a week to see their kids, you know that's not right and a lot of times it's not doable," Kuhn said.