State Department of Social Welfare v. Thompson

The sole question here involved is whether the consent of a licensed adoption agency, to which a child has been previously relinquished under section 224m of the Civil Code, is a jurisdictional prerequisite to the granting of a valid adoption order.

James Kitchens, born June 25, 1941, was the legitimate child of Clan B. and Opal Kitchens. The mother became an inmate in a state hospital for the insane and on October 10, 1950, the superintendent certified to the Department of Public Welfare that the mother was not and would not be capable of properly supporting or controlling said child. On…