PROVE

What is PROVE?

• Launched in 2007, PROVE (Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education) is an innovative needs/resource model that strives to create an environment where veterans can more easily access the resources they need to successfully transition from military life to student life and find a sense of belonging in a community of student veterans. Those who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserves are leaving a close-knit community built upon intense shared experiences. Providing a robust and supportive program focused on the specific needs of student veterans helps with their transition.

• PROVE offers campus support teams of graduate social work interns who work with existing campus veteran services and campus professionals to connect new and current student veterans to the resources they need, both on campus and off, as they transition from the military to college life.

• PROVE recognizes that many student veterans, partially due to stigma, hesitate to seek mental health services. They may also be reluctant to confide in civilians who have no connection or knowledge of their unique experience, mistrusting the motivations for the help offered. The veteran community writ large is close-knit and deeply rooted in military values such as stoicism, loyalty, and camaraderie (unit cohesion). For this reason, PROVE deploys its model from within each campus's Student Veteran Resource Center (SVRC) with personnel who are immersed in learning about the unique needs of veterans and service members. Therefore, PROVE can meet each student where they are. Providing services within a safe, comfortable environment increases the chance for success in fostering a true sense of belonging.