I am a Missouri mother facing four active juvenile court and child-welfare cases without consistent legal representation. I urgently need an experienced Missouri juvenile and family-law attorney to help protect my children and ensure our family’s position is properly presented.

My immediate goal is $950 to begin attorney consultations. My overall legal-fund goal is approximately $4200.

You can help by donating any amount, sharing this fundraiser, or sending a legitimate referral to an experienced Missouri juvenile attorney. Because these cases involve my children, I cannot publicly share confidential interviews, records, allegations, or evidence.

What I’ve Done

Over the past month, I have spent about 50 hours each week—more than 200 hours total—printing, reviewing, and organizing more than 600 pieces of documentation. I have received paperwork indicating that every allegation investigated in connection with these matters was unsubstantiated.

I have given this everything I have, but organizing records does not make me a lawyer. I need qualified counsel to examine the complete record, preserve evidence, meet upcoming deadlines, determine what is legally relevant and admissible, and present it properly in court.

How This Began

The case began with a Temporary Alternative Placement Agreement (TAPA), presented to me as a voluntary and temporary arrangement. Within about two days, their placement made claims of my son having an accident on their couch and somehow agencies were able to slap some irrelevancy and authorize an emergency  removal of my two youngest children from their home.. they were then sent out of town to strangers. I was not notified for days of this displacement… they are  five and two years old… that displacement was authorized around 2:30 a.m. 

Since then, theyve remained separated from their older siblings. They have been moved through three different placements and now live more than four hours away from us. 

They are not paperwork or case numbers. They are MY  children who at the hands of others are enduring the most unbelievable and unnecessary trauma.  repeated moves, separation from their family, and distance that continues  making visitation and  substantially harder.

at the last two placements, my youngest babies endured PHYSICAL abuse… BRUISES on their face and bodies.  on two separate occasions in two different placements! .  I need an attorney to review this and determine how it can properly be presented in court.

My contact with my oldest daughter also stopped abruptly. i Suspect it has a lot to do with how  my middle daughter made multiple reports to appropriate case personnel about the troubling conduct in the placement home. Those reports included negative statements about me, highly inappropriate and inexcusable .. as well as behavior that appeared to discourage or interfere with the  relationships and communications we had/were allowed. I preserved what was reported and raised my concerns through the appropriate channels. I have now gone approximately four months without seeing my oldest daughter.

I miss her every day. I miss them all every minute of every hour each and every day.

There are multiple  recordings, discrepancies in reports, and audible documentation of what a member of my extended family has been up to for the past two years in secret. that family member has been the biggest source of what is wrong in my case. There is a trail leading back two years regarding her attempts to go behind my back and interfere with my children and my relationship with them. Because of my concerns about her malicious intentions—and because I believed she was toxic and untrustworthy—I made the decision to go no contact for about two years. 
    dfs was notified of it all and was begged to find different placement given this Tapa they offered HAD to happen.. I begged and pleaded for them to find anyone else!! I even resorted to allowing a stranger because the placement they showed up to my house with was that big of a threat! 
  It is gut wrenching for something so apparent to remain unresolved especially when my  children’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being, are at stake.

Why I Am Asking for Help

I have applied for legal aid and contacted multiple attorneys, but I still do not have the consistent representation these four cases require.

Immediate goal: $950 — to begin attorney consultations.
Overall goal: approximately $3,700 — for consultation fees, retainer, records, transcripts, subpoenas, filing and service costs, document production, and other necessary case expenses. If the first milestone is reached, I may increase the displayed goal in stages as I receive specific information.

Donations will be used only for legal fees and related expenses. I will provide appropriate updates without compromising my children’s privacy or the legal process.

I am not asking the public to decide the facts. I am asking for the opportunity to have the evidence reviewed and our position presented by qualified counsel before decisions are made that could shape the rest of my children’s lives.

How You Can Help

· Donate any amount. A $10 or $25 contribution may seem small, but many small gifts can help me reach the first $750 needed to begin consultations.
· Share this fundraiser. Sharing costs nothing and may reach someone who can help.
· Send a referral. If you know an experienced Missouri juvenile or family-law attorney, please connect us.

Please do not contact the court, Children’s Division, my relatives, the children’s placements, or anyone involved in the proceedings.

Asking for help is frightening and humbling, but my pride cannot be more important than my children. I love them, I miss them, and I will continue doing everything legally and responsibly within my power to advocate for them.

Thank you for helping us pursue proper representation and a fair opportunity to be heard.