This collection of gripping yet heartwarming stories describes how troubled boys have turned their lives around at Colorado Boys Ranch (now known as CBR YouthConnect) for nearly 50 years. Told in their own words, these stories of the boys and their caring mentors show how a rural institution that was envisioned as an alternative to incarceration by Colorado's county judges in 1959 has evolved into one of the nation's leading psychiatric residential treatment facilities. The Hero Within also describes programs, such as animal-assisted therapy, that have helped the Colorado Boys Ranch achieve a 90 percent success rate in treating some of the most severely troubled youth in our country. At a time when thousands of mentally ill youth are improperly held in jails due to a lack of access to appropriate mental health programs, this book illustrates what can be achieved when boys are given a chance to tap their own "hero within" and lead lives filled with peace and hope.
