Missouri, the state that refuses to come into the 21st century

As some of you may or may not be aware we have two other daughters who currently live with my jerk of an ex. I won't go into all the details because that would take all night, but I have filed child abuse charges against my ex. I filed all the appropriate paperwork, was given leave by the courts to proceed as a poor person. My ex was given the same permission. We get assigned a Guardian Ad Litem or GAL. This person works for the state and is assigned to cases of neglect and alleged abuse. This person will investigate the home, talk to people and more importantly talk to the kids without the parents around. They are specially trained to spot the signs of abuse and they are the voice of the kids rights in court settings. Well this, and you will excuse my language as I am still extremely angry, bitch sends both of us a letter stating that she wants the two of us to deposit $500 "to insure that she gets paid seeing as she has been stiffed (not her term) before". Now what is wrong with this picture? You are going before a judge in a court of law and ask that two people who have been given permission by the courts to proceed as poor people (in other words we are too damn poor to pay the courts fees) to pay a grand to do a job that the state pays her to do!!!!!!! I send her a copy of the court order giving me permission to proceed as a poor person and tell her that I am on disability and can't pay her fee. She petitions the court to have the case dismissed. The first court date was set for February 26th. The big day arrives and the only one to show is the person who is having charges of child abuse filed against him. The GAL had a case in another county and could not be there and seeing as her fee had not been paid she wanted the case dismissed. The judge rules that since my ex was the only one who shows, and he can't hear a case with only one person there, the case will be rescheduled for a date to be determined later. This past Saturday, March 3, I receive a letter for this wonderful employee of the state, wanting the judge to dismiss the case set for MARCH 1!!!!!. Say what???? What court date???? Nobody bothered to inform me of this. This paperwork is dated February 28th. Now granted I couldn't be there in person, but I should have been notified of this date. If I had known that the date was set up I would have sent more information to the judge against my ex. And to add insult to injury, I get paperwork from the court informing me that the hearing had been set for March 1 and that the case has been dismissed. This paperwork was dated March 2. Upon further looking at the calender I discover that only three days had passed from the original court date and the second. Hearings only get heard this fast in soap operas. Yet again I try to do the right thing for my kids and the state of Missouri kicks me in the stomach.

As I see it the state of Missouri just told me that unless you are rich and can afford to hire a lawyer don't bother to fight for your kids rights. You will get screwed, glued and tattooed.