Some people stumble into their life’s work. Others are pushed into it by circumstance. For former Talbot County Council president Corey Pack, the Responsible Fathers Initiative began as more of a calling. After 25 years in Maryland state government as a probation supervisor, Pack saw the same men cycle through the system again and again—followed, years later, by their sons and daughters. It was a pattern that troubled him deeply, not just as a public servant, but as a citizen watching families unravel in slow motion.
Pack came to believe that the system was largely reactive, stepping in only after harm had already been done. While he understood its limits, he felt compelled to try something different—to work upstream, where prevention might still be possible. In 2019, he left state service and launched the Responsible Fathers Initiative, focusing on one basic but often neglected idea: that engaged, supported fathers can change the trajectory of families and communities.
The program began inside the Talbot County Detention Center, working directly with incarcerated men. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Pack and his partners pivoted quickly, moving the program online and keeping it running when many others shut down. In fact, Talbot County became the only jurisdiction in Maryland to operate a fatherhood program continuously throughout that first year of COVID, eventually expanding to include mothers, youth, and community-based programs.
Since then, the initiative has grown well beyond its original scope, partnering with schools, nonprofits, Washington College, and agencies across Talbot and Dorchester counties. At its core, though, the mission remains simple: help men move from being occasional contributors to fully committed fathers, and keep asking one central question—how do adult choices affect the child? In this interview, Pack talks candidly about what he’s learned, what works, and why he remains optimistic, even when the work is hard.
This video is approximately six minutes long. For more information about the Responsible Fathers Initiative, please go here.
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