Mills: “I didn’t realize I was in competition,” regarding adopting a baby.


Craig Mills and his family.

 

In our most recent Sound Off Louisiana feature, we introduced Mr. Craig Mills, who alleges he is the victim of an adoption scam.  In July of 2012, Mills pursued the adoption of his daughter, Morgan (pictured above).  Though there were a few glitches (most notably the birth mother demanding $500 cash before signing the paperwork, an overture which Mills did not conform because he knew such payments to be illegal), the adoption was finalized in October of 2013.  The biological parents arrived in Louisiana from Oregon.  They were homeless and living under a tree behind Cash’s Casino in Port Allen.

 

In February of 2014, Mills was notified that Morgan’s biological parents were once again expecting a baby, and he was called upon to adopt the baby and thereby keep Morgan and her sibling together.  This time the biological parents were residing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Mills and his wife agreed to adopt the baby.  In the following video, Mills outlines historical problems within Louisiana’s adoption process and demonstrates how irregularities of 30-40 years ago have only become even more prolific in the present-day Louisiana adoption industry.


Mills provides a historical perspective of Louisiana adoptions and provides insight
on modern-day “incentivization” of pregnant young women from out-of-state to relocate
to Louisiana to give birth to their babies due to Louisiana’s lax adoption statutes.
CLICK HERE for the Washington Post article Mills references.
CLICK HERE for the evidence of the revenue Mills references entailing a
Louisiana nonprofit adoption agency in Louisiana.

Now, recall above that Mills was called upon to adopt Morgan’s sibling.  Imagine how heartbroken and sickened he felt to be informed at the last minute, “You lost.”  Unbeknownst to Mills, he was in competition with two other prospective adoptive families, and he was even told “the last adoptive family in the process typically gets the child.”  Mills’ response (as depicted near the end of the above video):  “I didn’t know I was in a competition.”

When Mills and the biological parents of Morgan were connected, the parents were expecting a boy.  Mills and his wife had therefore decided to name the young man Clarke.  Instead, a beautiful young girl, whom we had the pleasure to meet on Monday, May 22, 2017 (and who welcomed us as a guest in her home and bid us a heartfelt “good bye” as we departed), was born.  When Mills was called upon to adopt the biological parents’ second child, they were again told it would be a boy, and the mother said, “Now you’ll have a son whom you can name Clarke.”  As depicted on the end of the above video, Mills is dedicated to trying to prevent more episodes similar to his and, in that regard, he has formed The Clarke Mills Project to, as indicated on the Facebook page:

Help other families in our situation with counseling and education, so they do not wander in the dark alone.  Additionally, where warranted, we will provide funding to hold those accountable for their unprofessional or unethical actions.  For those lawmakers in Louisiana and for those adoption ‘professionals’ who use Louisiana families as their personal ATMs; we are not going away.”

We look forward to delivering Installment 3 of this fascinating series in coming days.

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Craig Mills sounds off on alleged Louisiana adoption scams and the associated added Medicaid costs to taxpayers.

Craig Mills and his family.

 

In our latest Sound Off Louisiana feature, we introduce Mr. Craig Mills, who sounds off on allegations of massive adoption scams in Louisiana and his frustration that law-enforcement agencies, rather than assisting the victims of the scams, simply ignore the epidemic and that the licensed clinical social workers who coordinate with Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) actually assist those perpetrating the scams to pull them off!

 

We will be providing a multi-part series on Mills’ encounters and his allegations.  In today’s feature, we introduce him by way of providing a little background and testimony he provided entailing HCR-79 of the 2016 Louisiana legislative session.


Introductory background of Craig Mills and his House Committee testimony.

Mills has filed civil litigation over his encounters in which he alleges improprieties and/or conflicts on the part of Louisiana licensed social worker and adoption attorney Lisa Pecquet Harell.  The case was assigned to 19th JDC Judge Todd Hernandez.  The most recent hearing entailing the matter transpired on April 10, 2017.  Sound Off Louisiana attended the proceeding and made these notations.  Judge Hernandez took the matter under advisement, and he issued a ruling on May 24, 2017 denying both of defendant’s exceptions (no right of action and prescription).

We look forward to delivering Part II of this intriguing series to include one-on-one interview questions with Mills in coming days!

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above. 

Did Rep. Julie Stokes borrow LSU’s Mike Henderson poll questions to find 54% of Louisiana voters support an increase in the gas tax?


Rep. Julie Stokes (R-Kenner)

On Tuesday, May 16, 2017, Louisiana Rep. Julie Stokes said, “I conducted a survey” in which her findings were that “54% of voters statewide support an increase in the gas tax.”  Her poll results seemed to have striking resemblance to those of Dr. Michael Henderson, Director of LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab:

 


Stokes announces her poll results and Henderson admits poll findings are directly impacted by “how you ask the question.”  CLICK HERE for full details of Henderson’s findings on Louisiana voters tax sentiments.

Both Stokes’ and Henderson’s findings are striking given that, in April of 2017, a Truth in Politics survey found only 22% support for increasing the gas tax.  Then last week, Bernie Pinsonat of Southern Media Opinion and Research conducted a poll showing only 29% support for increasing the gas tax.  Stokes is now on record as supporting the gas tax increase, so we’ll see how she fares in her own statewide poll as she seeks to be Louisiana’s next Treasurer.

Hours after the vote, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns drove to a Race Trac station near his home and asked a motorist who had just filled up if he’d mind if Burns took a photo of the pump charge (photo above).  The motorist inquired why, to which Burns responded, “because if a gas tax which cleared committee today becomes law, you will pay $3.70 more.”  The motorist then said to feel free to take the picture and added, “and the tax damn well better not pass!”

Regarding Henderson, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns asked him if he’d surveyed Louisiana citizens’ feelings toward taxes relative to the alternative of moving to Texas, which Henderson admitted has a lower tax burden:


Henderson takes an astounding 5+ minutes to answer a question by Burns, but the one word answer is “no.”

To see Henderson’s presentation in its entirety, CLICK HERE.  To see a past appearance by Stokes at the Baton Rouge Press Club during which she advocated removing the deductibility of one’s Federal income taxes on one’s Louisiana tax return (a measure for which she sponsored a bill to accomplish), CLICK HERE.

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.