An Act to amend the act entitled ""An Act to regulate the placing of children in family homes, and for other purposes,"" approved April 22, 1944, as amended, and for other purposes.
PL 86-177 (S.746), enacted 08/21/1959

73 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 86-177-AUG. 21, 1959 
413 
Public Law 86-177 
AN ACT 
To amend the Act entitled "An Act to regulate the placing of children In family 
homes, and for other purposes", approved April 22, 1944, as amended, and for 
other purposes. 
August 21, 1959 
[S. 746] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of Ainerica. in Congress assembled^ That subsection (a) 
of section 6 of the Act entitled "An Act to regulate the placing of 
children in family homes, and for other purposes", approved April 22, 
1944, as amended (sec. 32-786(a), D.C. Code, 1951 edition), is 
amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 6. (a) Whenever a licensed child-placing agency shall have 
been given the permanent care and guardianship of any child and the 
rights of the parent or parents of such child shall have been terminated 
by order of a court of competent jurisdiction or by a legally executed 
relinquishment of parental rights, the agency is vestedjwith parental 
rights and may consent to the adoption of the child pursuant to the 
statutes regulating adoption procedure. Minority of a natural parent 
shall not be a bar to such parent's relinquishment to a licensed agency. 
Any relinquishment of parental rights other than by court order as 
provided in this subsection may be revoked upon the written consent 
of all the parties to said relinquishment and any such relinquishment 
may be transferred from one licensed child-placing agency to another 
licensed child-placing agency, in w^hich case the second agency shall 
assume all the rights and duties of the first agency. 
For the purposes 
of this section, 'licensed child-placing agency' shall mean any child-
placing agency licensed pursuant to this Act or any child-placing 
agency licensed or authorized by any State, Territory, or possession 
of the United States, by the Commonwealth of Puerto Ilico, or by 
any foreign country or any state, province, or other governmental 
division of any foreign country for the care and placement of minors. 
Such transfer or relinquishment shall be filed in the domestic rela-
tions branch of the municipal court for the District of Columbia, 
as hereinafter provided in this section. Except in proceedings for 
adoption, no parent may voluntarily assign or otherwise transfer to 
another his rights and duties with respect to the permanent care and 
control of a child under sixteen years of age unless such relinquish-
ment of parental rights is made to a licensed child-placing agency. 
Such relinquishment of parental rights shall be a statement in w^riting 
signed by the person relinquishing such parental rights who shall 
subscribe his name thereto and acknowledge the same before a rep-
resentative of the licensed child-placing agency in the presence of at 
least one witness. 
Said relinquishment of parental rights shall be 
recorded and filed in a properly sealed file in the domestic relations 
branch of the municipal court for the District of Columbia. 
The 
seal of said file shall not be broken except for good cause shown and 
upon the written order of a judge of said court." 
SEC. 2. Such Act, as amended, is amended by adding at the end 
thereof the following new section: 
"SEC. 13. As used m this Act, the term 'Commissioners' means the 
Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their desig-
nated agents. The performance of any function vested by this Act 
in the Board of Commissioners or in any office or agency under the 
jurisdiction and control of said Board of Commissioners may be 
delegated by said Board of Commissioners in accordance with section 
3 of Reorganization Plan Numbered 5 of 1952 (66 Stat. 824)." 
Approved August 21, 1959. 
D.C. child-plae-
ing agencies 
58 Stat. 194. 
R e 1 inquishment 
of parental rights. 
Transfer, 
"Licensed child-
placing agency". 
Recordation. 
"Commissioners". 
D.C. Code 1 app.