Family Asks For Help Finding Son

Matt Hoff is on the streets. Somewhere. His family desperately wants to find him. He's 18, an adult by legal standards, but incapable of taking care of himself, a victim of a system in which he must be a danger to himself or others before he can get the help he needs.

But he needs help now, according to his Ladera Ranch family.

Jennifer and Gary Hoff have asked law enforcement authorities throughout Orange County to help find their son, who was last seen around 4 a.m. Feb. 7, when he was released from the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana without notification to his parents.

Hoff is 5-foot-10, about 140 pounds with a slight build, coarse brown hair which may be curly and a light complexion. He has a large tattoo of a blue Smurf on his right forearm.

Afflicted with mental illness since age 5, he spent much of his youth in psychiatric treatment facilities, and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD, among others. According to the Laura’s Law website, which included a short bio of Hoff, the teen "aged out" of a locked children’s mental health residential program when he turned 18 last May; he has not been taking medication, which was denied him while he was serving 60 days in the county jail.

"There's nothing we can do to keep him safe," Jennifer Hoff told the Los Angeles Times. "He's off his meds now and doesn't trust us anymore."

So, Hoff's parents are in a Catch-22: They can't forcibly get him the help he needs because he's an adult, but as an adult he can't be given treatment by the state until he's a danger to himself or others.

Because of his build and impaired judgment, he is considered vulnerable to predators. He may not be able to respond quickly or appropriately to verbal commands or requests. He has been to a hospital emergency room three times, and been arrested twice for theft.

Anyone with information about Hoff should call the Orange County Department of Behavioral Health’s CAT team at 714-517-6353, or his family at 714-759-HELP (4357).