In re E.P.

JACKSON, Judge.

On 16 August 2005, Alexander County Department of Social Services ("DSS") filed juvenile *773petitions alleging that 2-year-old M.P. and 9-month-old E.P. were neglected and dependent juveniles. According to the petitions, the children were neglected because their parents abused alcohol, engaged in acts of domestic violence in front of the children, and had been evicted from two dwellings as a result of unpaid rent and utility bills. Additionally, the petitions alleged that respondent mother had, on one occasion, left the children unattended when she locked herself in a bathroom and…