Helping Children Understand Trauma Through Film and Storytelling

James Jeter started We Investigate the Trauma because he saw firsthand how unaddressed trauma silences children — especially in communities touched by incarceration, violence, and systemic neglect.

Through his work with the Full Citizens Coalition, James met countless returning citizens who struggled to reconnect with their children, not because they lacked love, but because no one had ever given those children the tools to understand what they were feeling. The hurt was passed down, generation after generation, simply because it was never named.

He built this program to break that cycle. Using film, storytelling, and guided discussion, we create safe spaces where children can explore their emotions, build resilience, and finally put words to the weight they have been carrying — before it hardens into the kind of pain that defines an adulthood.