It has been a year to remember for Saskatchewan’s Ranch Ehrlo Society.

The outreach group’s annual survey says that 81% of children using a society home last year showed significant improvement in functioning.

As well, over 70% of the families they worked with were able to keep their kids at home, despite the very real possibility of them being taken out.

David Rivers is the senior director for the organization.

He says they take in kids who need help with addictions, social problems and other challenges.

This includes both children and families from the province’s north:

“So we provide housing for their families — so a family can be referred from Onion Lake, or from Peter Ballantyne, come and stay in Regina in one of our family homes.  We’ll transition their children who are in care into that home.  We’ll work with the whole family for one, two, three months — and then the whole family transitions back to their community.”

However, he says addictions continue to pose challenges for his society and more attention is needed on that area of treatment.