There's a great book called, The Spirit Level. I recommend it to you all. It shows that if you want to be a government where there are high trust levels, low incarceration rates, high education rates, and long life spans, you need to do only one thing and that is to reduce the inequalities in your own country.
I think by making that investment a priority as a federal government, you would see all of these good outcomes across the spectrum, and it would address many of the issues you raise.