R.O.

I. Background

The five-year-old child was detained in October 2010 after the mother hit the child in the face with a belt. The child suffered injuries to her face. The mother admitted that she had intentionally struck the child with a belt and caused the injuries to her face, but she insisted that the injuries were “an accident.” The mother admitted that she had hit the child with a belt on 20 prior occasions, beginning when the child was two years old. She was adamant that this was “appropriate” “discipline.” The child told the social worker that the mother had caused her injuries by hitting her with a belt. She said she had been hit with a belt by the mother more than 20 times. The child also reported that she had frequently been exposed to seeing her mother having sex with men. The father, a registered gang member with a history of violent crime, was incarcerated at the time of the child’s detention and had been incarcerated for most of the child’s life. The mother and the father had a history of engaging in domestic violence in the child’s presence. The mother reported that the child had been sexually molested by a teenaged boy a couple of months prior to her detention. At…