My brother is not married to the mother of his child who is now 8 months old. The mother has had other children with different men. She had custody of the other children at one time. The children were taken from her by CPS and given to the other fathers. My brother does have concerns for his son and now is looking into at least getting joint custody to make sure the baby is OK. The mother does dictate when and when my brother is able to see his son which is three times a month. Would my brother have a good case to get joint custody?

Yes, your brother has a very good case to get joint custody, probably even sole custody if he wants it. He must establish paternity with the courts, establishing that he is the real father. Usually the courts will send both parents to Family Services to get a recommendation of visitation and the percentage of time the child will spend with each parent. When they do so, they'll interview both parents and likely want to see the child for any signs of abuse. When they interview him, he DEFINITELY needs to voice what concerns he has. Things like whether he's getting proper nutrition, or if she leaves the baby with friends or relatives to go out, and he needs to bring up that the other children were taken away by CPS. They'll have records, and her past will likely come back to haunt her in a very bad way.

I hope it works out.