The Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, for example, have joined forces to improve community mental health services and prevent suicides.

WHITEHOUSE: Supporting Military Families

He says there were plenty of ideas about how to improve local services, such as a community-based gynaecology service with a specialist and a scanner.

BBC: The changing health service

Many argue that when the police leave, things will revert to the brutal status quo unless far-reaching community projects are introduced to improve public access to services like schools and hospitals.

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The committee says it supports a government drive to improve young offenders' literacy, but believes the focus should be on increasing services in the community rather than in secure institutions given the relative short time most offenders spend there.

BBC: offenders learning to rewire a plug