This is because "[p]arents have a duty to provide, and children have a corresponding right to be provided with, a safe environment, free from abuse and neglect." In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *6 (Tenn.Ct.App. July 13, 2004) (citing M.F.G. v. Dep't of Children Families, 723 So.2d 290, 292 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1998); C.L.S. v. C.L.S., 722 S.W.2d 116, 121 (Mo.Ct.App. 1986); In re S.D.S., 648 S.W.2d 351, 353 (Tex.Ct.App. 1983); West Va. Dep't of Health Human Res. ex rel. Wright v. Doris S., 197 W.Va. 489, 475 S.E.2d 865, 879 (1996)). Accordingly, a parent who has not directly abused her own child may still be found to have committed severe child abuse if she "knowingly exposed the child to, or knowingly failed to protect the child from, conduct constituting severe child abuse."

"Persons act ‘knowingly’ when they have specific reason to know the relevant facts and circumstances but deliberately ignore them." In re R.C.P. , No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004) ; see alsoIn re H.L.F. , 297 S.W.3d 223, 237 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009) ("By deliberately and recklessly ignoring Father's pedophilic interests, Mother knowingly failed to protect Heather from being raped by Father...."). This interpretation of "knowing" traces back to In re R.C.P. , 2004 WL 1567122 at *7, in which then-Judge Koch adopted a definition articulated by the West Virginia Supreme Court in West Va. Dep't. of Health & Hum. Res. ex rel. Wright v. Doris S. , 197 W.Va. 489, 475 S.E.2d 865 (1996).

In re H.L.F., 297 S.W.3d 223, 236 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009) (quoting In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004)). "The most serious consequence of a finding that a parent has committed severe child abuse is that such a finding, in and of itself, constitutes a ground for termination of parental rights." In re Samaria S., 347 S.W.3d 188, 201 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011)

In re H.L.F., 297 S.W.3d 223, 236 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009) (quoting In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004)). "The most serious consequence of a finding that a parent has committed severe child abuse is that such a finding, in and of itself, constitutes a ground for termination of parental rights." In re Samaria S., 347 S.W.3d 188, 201 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011)

In re H.L.F., 297 S.W.3d 223, 236 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009) (quoting In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004)). "The most serious consequence of a finding that a parent has committed severe child abuse is that such a finding, in and of itself, constitutes a ground for termination of parental rights." In re Samaria S., 347 S.W.3d 188, 201 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011)

We consider a person's conduct to be "knowing," and a person to act or fail to act "knowingly," when he or she has actual knowledge of the relevant facts and circumstances or when he or she is either in deliberate ignorance of or in reckless disregard of the information that has been presented to him or her. In re Caleb J.B.W., No. E2009-01996-COA-R3-PT, 2010 WL 2787848, at *5 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 14, 2010) (citing In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004)). In other words, the "knowing" requirement is not limited to parents who are present when severe abuse actually occurs.

In the context of severe child abuse, the words "knowing" and "knowingly," which are included in the statutory definitions of severe child abuse, "'do not have fixed or uniform meanings,' and '[t]heir meanings in particular cases vary depending on the context in which they are used or the character of the conduct at issue.'" In re Samaria S., 347 S.W.3d 188, 206 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2011) (quoting In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004)). As relevant to severe child abuse, this Court has explained that a parent's conduct is considered to be knowing and his or her actions or failure to act are knowingly "when he or she has actual knowledge of the relevant facts and circumstances or when he or she is either in deliberate ignorance of or in reckless disregard of the information that has been presented to him or her." In re Samaria S., 347 S.W.3d at 206

We have previously held "[a] parent's failure to protect a child will also be considered 'knowing' if the parent had been presented with sufficient facts from which he or she could have and should have recognized that severe child abuse had occurred or that it was highly probable that severe child abuse would occur." In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004). In re Markus E., No. M2019-01079-COA-R3-PT, 2021 WL 5571818, at *7-8 (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 30, 2021).

In re S.J., 387 S.W.3d 576, 591-592 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). We have previously held "[a] parent's failure to protect a child will also be considered 'knowing' if the parent had been presented with sufficient facts from which he or she could have and should have recognized that severe child abuse had occurred or that it was highly probable that severe child abuse would occur." In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004). Mother argues that the underlying facts should be proved by "clear, cogent and convincing evidence" in parental termination cases, as advocated by Judge William B. Cain.

A person acts "knowingly" when he or she "ha[s] specific reason to know the relevant facts and circumstances but deliberately ignore[s] them." In re R.C.P., No. M2003-01143-COA-R3-PT, 2004 WL 1567122, at *7 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 13, 2004). Here, Mother admitted that, after learning she was pregnant, she used methamphetamines.