custody rights and the legal system

i know a guy who had a relationship with a girl, nothing new or strange about that. the relationship carried on for a couple of years and during this time they did lots of drugs and had wild times. she got pregnant to him and already had another children to another man. he left her and fought long and hard to leave behind that scene, that life. years later and he's been on the path to mending and doing very well.

one day the ex dumps the kids on his doorstep. she's on the run from dhs and it's easier to run without kids in tow. she now has three children to three different men, none of whom have stayed with her because she's still in the drugo scene with no real means of quitting or getting any real help. you need money for rehab.

the children (including two that aren't biologically his) end up in his and his family's care for almost two years. during this time dhs catches up with her and she goes to prison for a while. before she goes to prison she tries to win back her children, taking her ex to court.

this is where the system is unfair and stupid. he has to pay for a lawyer to fight against her at the cost of around $700 per hour to prove that he is decent and fit enough to have the care of her children (his biological child). while she pays for nothing and doesn't have to prove she's fit enough because the law favours the rights of the mother no matter how screwed up the mother is.

this woman and her family are well known to dhs and have been in the system for years for neglect, abuse and drug related offenses and still, legally, the children are hers and she has a right to them. while the father who has a steady job, family support and has worked hard to be a decent and contributing citizen to society has to pay to prove he's a better parent.

there is no three strikes and your out. three strikes and you lose the rights to your children. three strikes and the children automatically get a better life living with more balanced caring able people. even her with her drugged up way of being she doesn't have to fork out a dime to prove she has legal rights to her children.

update: the father, who had the child in his custody for many months while the mother was in jail, ended up giving the child back when the mother got out of jail. he said that having a child interfered with his life and work. sadly even when fathers get custody of their children they sometimes realise how hard raising a child is. now the child is back with the abusive neglectful mother.