Help Tristan stay safe and loved!!

My name is Justin Schwope. I am a father to my 6-year-old son, Tristan. I have been fighting for my son since he was born to get full custody of him. My visitations with him were every other weekend, Wednesday for the night, and holidays on odd years. One weekend, when I went to take him home to his mom's, I was told to take Tristan back home with me because his mom was in jail for child abuse and domestic abuse.

Tristan was ill almost every time I had my visitations with him, and I could not do anything due to not having medical rights at that time. The night I was told to bring him back home with me, I went directly to Children’s Hospital ER. He was then admitted for extreme asthma and was on a breathing machine for 27 hours straight. Once his asthma was under control, they kept him for another 17 days for malnutrition and extreme constipation due to fear of using the bathroom. Tristan was 26.5 lbs. He was very quiet, scared, and did not know how to communicate because who knew what had been happening to him while at his mother's.

We were finally able to go home with follow-up appointments to see how Tristan has been progressing. Tristan would barely touch his food at this point. So, when we went to his follow-up appointment 3 days before Christmas, Tristan was once again admitted to have a G-Tube button placed to help him get the proper supplements he needs to grow. A few months down the road, he had to have an upper endoscopy procedure to see if his esophagus was swollen because that could be the reason he only nibbles due to fear of his food coming back up. It turns out that his esophagus was swollen, and now on top of everything else, he has to take budesonide orally, which has helped him a lot. Tristan was also just diagnosed with Autism a few months ago and has to do ABA therapy every day after school.

As of November, he has been placed in temporary custody with me through DHHS. We started out having supervised video visitations between Tristan and his mom, but his mom would talk to him for not even 2 minutes, then just hang up without saying anything. After a few weeks of not seeing his mom, he was doing fantastic. That lasted no more than a month or so, and they decided to do mandatory in-person supervised visitations with his mom twice a week. When it comes to visitation day, he doesn’t want to go, holding my hand tight. When he comes home, he shuts down and hides in his room crying, causing trauma triggers from when I first got him in November.

Since I have had him, he went from 26.5 lbs to almost 50 lbs. He is eating way more food and different kinds of food, he uses the bathroom when he needs to without fear, he is communicating way better, and he feels comfort and is happy with me. Tristan was going through only God knows what when he was with his mom. She only wants him for child support and does not seem to care about his well-being. I was just informed by the court-appointed attorney they assigned me today that my child is going to be placed back with his mom. I don’t understand why they would want to place him back with her after all we have progressed and worked hard through to get him where he is today.

I want to fight for full custody of Tristan but I need help affording an attorney that will actually fight with me to get him back. I work 40+ hours a week. My income is barely enough for us to survive after paying medical insurance/bills, gas to get him to all his appointments and school, food, and things for his needs. It is really hard for me to sit here and not be able to fight for my son. I am asking for help towards a lawyer that will help me get my son back so we don’t have to worry about whether he is getting the proper care that he needs. I appreciate everyone!