Programs such as governmental, departmental or nonprofit ombudsman offices that provide assistance for people who want to register complaints about or have other issues which relate to the activities, actions or lack of action by public officials or civil service employees in state government offices or the agencies they regulate and/or fund. Also included are programs that handle complaints about the availability and quality of state government services. The program provides an objective, neutral and independent review of complaints; offers reasonable remedies when complaints are substantiated; and uses information from the complaints and the investigations they trigger to identify and resolve problems within the agency or department and improve services.

Programs that provide advocacy services for people who have an ongoing tax issue with the IRS or other tax collection agencies that they have been unable to resolve through normal procedures. Included are agencies within the IRS or other tax collection agencies tasked with this responsibility and independent organizations that offer this form of assistance.

Programs that intercede on behalf of individuals to help them establish eligibility for or obtain needed services when they have been denied benefits or services for which they are eligible, when they need assistance to communicate their needs to a service provider or to otherwise effectively represent themselves, or when they have a complaint about a service. Individual advocacy attempts to reach equitable settlements without resorting to litigation and seeks to meet individual needs without attempting to change social institutions.

The offices of individuals who have been appointed or elected to a state public office for a specified tenure and who are thereby in a position to exercise that portion of the sovereign functions of government that are conferred on that office.

Individuals who are generally between the ages of 18 and 25 depending on the ages that specific programs use for qualification.