Abstract
Purpose. This research was intended to identify some of the factors that impact student veterans' well-being, based on their unmet needs. Research by the USC School of Social Work Center for innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families USC-CIR (2015) found that many service members separate from the military ill-equipped to begin their civilian lives. This study provides practitioners and educators alike with insight into the degree to which unmet needs influence the overall well-being of student-veterans. Theoretical Framework. Two lenses were used: military transition theory (Castro et al., 2015), to describe the interactions of identifying the problem of unmet needs and the effect on student veterans' well-being. Action research theory (O'Brien, 1998) explains scientific approaches to reshaping how veteran resource centers (VRCs) within California Community Colleges could design programs. Methodology. This was an explanatory, multiple case study design. The research examined multiple California community colleges in an effort to identify the influential and restrictive factors. Specifically, the research used individual thematic content analysis and applied these principles to The State of Veteran Students in California Community Colleges: 2018 Statewide Study (Montgomery et al., 2018) documents. Findings. There are six unmet needs that came from this study: First, the unmet mental health needs of student veterans; second, the need to decrease the lack of understanding of student veterans; third, the need to maintain and continually improve VRCs; fourth, the need to increase capacity to support student veterans; fifth, the need to build stronger partnerships between VRCs and federal/local government agencies and NGOs; and sixth, the need for reliable data about student veterans that will help improve their overall well-being. Conclusions and Recommendations. The results of this study concluded that there are substantial inconsistencies with the VRCS in California community colleges when it comes to satisfying the unmet needs of student veterans. The recommendation is to establish a forum with action research theory as an oversight tool. Further recommendations include using military transition theory to establish a best practice manual to help introduce the college to student-veteran-centered programs.