Providing meaningful and adequate support for the mentally ill is very expensive and, like it or not, often intrusive.  Many persons simply won't support the funding of facilities and programs to provide early intervention and support at the community level.  Others feel such interventions are inhumane and personally intrusive.  As a result we have, across our nation, hundreds of thousands of mentally-ill individuals impoverished and homeless, sleeping in doorways and alleys, and aimlessly wandering the streets during the days.  

We don't intervene until the individual "becomes an imminent danger to themselves or others".  Frequently, that means until they either commit suicide or commit a serious crime.  Our lack of compassonate care for the mentally-ill is a national disgrace.