CHAPTER 369

An Act to amend and reenact § 16.1-178 of the Code of Virginia, as
amended, relating to decrees and orders of Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Courts, to validate consents to adoptions given by Boards
of Public Welfare and. other agencies in certain cases. 5 299

[ ]

Approved March 30, 1962

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 16.1-178 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, be amended
and reenacted as follows:

§ 16.1-178. Decree.—If the court shall find that the child or minor
is within the purview of this law it shall so decree and by order duly
entered proceed as follows:

(1) Take custody and place the child or minor on probation, under
such conditions as the court shall determine.

(2) Leave the child or minor in his own home under the supervision
of the court with or without taking custody; or take custody and place
the child or minor temporarily in a suitable home, under supervision of
the court, pending final disposition of the case.

(3) Take custody and commit the child or minor to the care and
custody of the local board of public welfare of the county or city in
which the court has jurisdiction or, at the discretion of the court, to the
local board of the county or city in which the child has residence if
other than the county or city in which the court has jurisdiction, which
board shall accept such child for care and custody; provided, however,
that such local board if one other than in the county or city in which the
court has jurisdiction, shall not be required to accept such child until
it has been given reasonable notice of the pendency of the case and an
opportunity to be heard. Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting
the commitment of a child to any local board of public welfare in the
State when such local board consents to the commitment.
(4) Take custody and commit the child or minor coming within the
provisions of paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) of subsection (1) of § 16.1-158
of this law to the care and custody of the State Board of Welfare and
Institutions if the child’s or minor’s behavior is such that the court
deems it cannot be satisfactorily or adequately dealt with in his own
locality or with its resources. All children intended to be placed in one
of the industrial schools of the State shall be committed to the State
Board of Welfare and Institutions, it being the purpose of this law
that the Director shall determine which children or minors shall be
so placed.

(4144) Take custody and commit the child or minor to the care
and custody of a person within the degree of relationship to the child
as specified in paragraph (d) of § 63-141 of the Code of Virginia if, after
an investigation of the suitability of such commitment, the court finds
that it would be for the best interests of the child and the State.

(5) Take custody and commit the child or minor to the care and
custody of a private agency or organization approved and licensed by
the State Board to care for or place children or minors in suitable foster
homes or institutions. No court shall commit a child or minor to an
agency or organization out of the State without the approval of the
Director.

(6) Commit the child or minor, if adjudged mentally defective, to
a mental institution, in accordance with the provisions of * this law.

(7) Refer or send the child or minor, if fourteen years of age or
older, for proceedings and trial to a court having criminal jurisdiction,
in accordance with the provisions of this law.

(8) In case of traffic violations the court may suspend an operator’s
license or require restitution in accordance with provisions of this law,
or it may impose the penalties which are authorized to be imposed on
adults for such violations.

(9) As disciplinary measure the court may impose a fine not ex-
ceeding fifty dollars upon a child or minor of working age or suspend
his driving permit when such child or minor is found by the court to
have violated the traffic laws of this State or a State or federal law or
local ordinance. All sums so ordered to be paid may be paid by the
child or minor in monthly or weekly installments; such child or minor
may also be required to make restitution or reparation for damages
resulting from his wrongful conduct.

(10) Order support of such other care and treatment, medical or
otherwise, as the court deems to be for the best interests of the child
or minor.

Commitment of a child by any court under any of the provisions
of this section shall not per se confer the right upon the receiving agency
to place such child for adoption. If proper studies indicate that it is
for the child’s best interest and that of the State that such child be
separated permanently from its parent, parents or guardian, the order
of commitment shall so state either in its original form or by subsequent
proper revision thereof by the court, in which event the agency having
custody of the child shall be free to make such permanent plans for
the child as may otherwise be within the scope of the agency’s authority.

The provisions of this section, insofar as they may affect a local
board of public welfare or other agency in giving consent for the adoption
of any child placed in its custody by order of a court, shall not operate
to change or invalidate such consent in any adoption suit pending on
July 1, 1960 *, and any consent to adoption which has been or may be
given by a board of public welfare or other agency having custody of a
child under an order of a court entered on or before June 27, 1960, is and
shall be valid in all respects for the purposes of adoption in accordance
with the provisions of §§ 63-847 through 68-364 of the Virginia Code.