Becoming an Adult, Age 18-22
At age 18, young adults have different responsibilities and benefits that may be available to them. Issues to consider include public benefits, health care decisions, voter registration, selective service registration, living choices, educational or vocational decisions and legal considerations.
As an adult, the person is able to choose who will help him or her to make decisions in these matters, unless a court has determined that the person is not capable of doing so. Adults may also authorize other adults to be their educational surrogate.
The young adult will be able to make health care decisions, so understanding his or her health issues becomes more important. The TCRC website has several articles related to managing health care decisions. A health care directive may be appropriate for some people. Young adults may keep a list of the names of doctors who are providing care and their contact information and carry a copy of their Medi-Cal card or private health insurance coverage in case of an emergency.