In the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of: L.K., Parent

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of the foster parents' motion to permissively intervene in the twins' CHIPS proceeding and affirmed dismissal of their third-party custody petition. It held that third-party custody petitions are not cognizable in a pending juvenile protection matter and that only parties may seek a transfer of legal and physical custody there. Because the foster parents were not parties and the constitutional issues were unnecessary to resolve the appeal, the court declined to address the equal-protection challenges and vacated the portions of the court of appeals' opinion that did so.