Before Father Engagement Was Mainstream

A Look Back at the Children’s Trust Fatherhood PSAs from the 1990s

Before “father engagement” became its own field of research — before the studies, the conferences, the dedicated funding streams — the Children’s Trust was already putting it on television.

In the early days of our Fatherhood Initiative, we did what any determined, forward-thinking organization would do: we made PSAs to get our message out. We recruited iconic singer and songwriter Carly Simon and the beloved former Boston Celtic and local legend, M.L. Carr, to bring some star power and visibility to the campaign.

The message was clear and deliberate: fathers matter. Their presence, their engagement, and their love shapes children in ways that last a lifetime. And if the broader world hadn’t fully caught up to that idea yet, we were determined to help move it along.

Watch the PSAs here:

• Hear from M.L. Carr
• The Most Important Meeting of the Day
• A Message from Carly Simon
• Be a Dad

There’s something deeply satisfying about watching these now. The production values are unmistakably 90s, but the vision behind them has stood the test of time.

What stands out, looking back, isn’t just the star power. It’s the conviction. At a time when “family support” often defaulted to programming designed exclusively for mothers, the Children’s Trust was making a different and deliberate argument: fathers aren’t an afterthought. They are essential partners in their children’s lives. And the field of family support needed to reflect that.

Thirty years later, that early conviction has become consensus. Father engagement is now a recognized area of research and practice. It shapes policy, informs program design, and drives funding decisions across the country. The Children’s Trust helped plant those seeds — intentionally, persistently, and apparently with excellent taste in spokespeople.

We knew where we wanted the field to go. We’re proud to have helped take it there.

About the 30 for 30 Fatherhood Series

This story is part of 30 Stories for 30 Years, marking 30 years of the Children’s Trust Fatherhood Initiative. The series highlights how professionals and organizations across Massachusetts support father involvement, healthy co-parenting, and stronger parenting partnerships as part of upstream prevention.