Mutual support groups whose members are people who have experienced a loss such as the death of a loved one, divorce or separation and are trying to cope with their grief as a result. The groups meet in-person, by telephone or via the Internet; and focus on helping participants accept their loss, express their grief, move through the bereavement process and put their lives back together.

Mutual support groups whose members were previously affiliated with one of the branches of the armed forces, their families and friends. The groups meet in-person, by telephone or via the Internet; may focus on former prisoners of war, veterans of specific wars, e.g., the Gulf War, women who are veterans or other specific veteran populations; and allow participants to share their experience, strengths and hopes and put their lives back together if they have been troubled by homelessness, disability, substance abuse, depression or other issues related to their service to the country.

Mutual support groups whose members are individuals who have adopted a child or are considering or in the process of adoption, birth parents who relinquished a child for adoption, people who were, themselves adopted, foster care providers, children in foster care, kinship caregivers (paternal or maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members, members of a child's tribe or clan, godparents, stepparents, neighbors, friends of the family or other adults who can serve as "family"), children cared for by relatives under a formal or informal kinship care arrangement and/or adults who, as children, were raised in foster or kinship care. Groups may also be structured for adoptees, siblings and/or birth parents who have been reunited; older kinship caregivers who have taken on an unexpected parenting role later in life; and people who have other kinship issues, e.g., grandparents and other relatives who have been denied access to a grandchild or other youngster due to a death or divorce in the child's family. Meeting formats may include in-person, telephone or Internet options.

Individuals who have serious medical conditions that have persisted over a long period of time or are subject to frequent recurrences, are treatable but rarely cured completely and require persistent self-management behaviors. Chronic illnesses may be life-long in duration and/or progressive in nature; and many are marked by sudden flare-ups that can be caused by stress or other factors. Medicine and other treatments can often help people with chronic illness lead a normal life, although many require long-term care.

Individuals who have experienced a loss, such as the death of a loved one or pet, divorce or separation, estrangement from a family member or any other kind of significant loss whose own patterns of personal, social and familial coping have been significantly affected as a result.

Married individuals who are living apart or in the process of separating and are potentially contemplating divorce or permanent separation, whose patterns of personal, social and familial coping have been significantly affected by problems in their marital relationships.

Families in which one or more of the children is adopted.

Individuals who are former members of one of the branches of the armed forces and who, by length and type of services, honorable discharge or release or degree of disability, qualify for the benefits and privileges that are provided by law for ex-servicemen and women.