The Rev. Brian Herron, a former Minneapolis city council member convicted of bribery, talked about the importance of forgiveness and second chances at the Capitol. Tim Nelson / MPR News

Minnesota needs to work harder to keep kids out of jail, particularly kids of color, a group of faith leaders said Thursday at the Capitol.

The group, ISAIAH of Minnesota, is seeking major changes to the state's juvenile justice policy and state funding for an initiative that's been examining alternatives to juvenile detention since 2006.

The policy changes they seek include:

• changing mission language for the state's juvenile criminal code

• allowing police to intervene informally in illegal but non-violent conduct

• eliminating adult mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles

• requiring a 20-year parole review for juveniles with life sentences

• banning the consideration of juvenile sentences in professional licensing

• keeping criminal records for 16 and 17 year olds private

• banning the shackling of juveniles in court

"As long as youth in our communities aren't given the opportunities that generally folks out in the suburbs or other parts of the state may have, I think we can expect that we're going to continue to have children dropping out of school, children not succeeding," said state Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis, who'll press for the changes in a bill at the Legislature.

The strategy also includes an expansion of the state's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, which is seeking $5 million in state funding to expand out of the Twin Cities, Duluth, Faribault and Northfield areas.

"We look at data, to see who's being locked up, why they're being detained and then to figure out if they're being detained for public safety reasons," said Brian Smith, the group's state coordinator. "We've found most of the kids that are being detained are not there for public safety reasons, and so what we want to do is create alternatives for them to stay out of the juvenile justice system."

Chemical dependency, mental health and other services are better alternatives to keep kids out of trouble, he said, adding that his program has helped reduce juvenile detention in Hennepin County by more than half and prompted Dakota County to shelve plans for a new $14 million juvenile facility.