Daytop

Daytop, or Daytop Village, or “Daytop Village New Jersey Inc.” is a drug addiction treatment organization with facilities in New York City and New Jersey. It was founded in 1963 in Tottenville, Staten Island by Daniel Harold Casriel along with Monsignor William B. O'Brien, a Roman Catholic priest and founder and president of the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities. Ron Brancato from the Pelham Bay area of Bronx New York, Program Director and former resident of Synanon, California. Synanon was the only other drug rehabilitation program until Daytop Village opened. Daytop also included a juvenile program based in Mendham, New Jersey. The Mendham, New Jersey facility also included a school for juveniles called Daytop School.

Father William B. O'Brien included Synanon's confrontational approaches, such as "attack therapy" and "behavior modification", in his addiction treatment methods. Synanon has since been investigated as one of the "most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen."

According to Dr. Casriel its name was originally an acronym for 'Drug Addicts Yield to Probation' as Daytop was originally a kind of "halfway house" for convicted addicts. Another account gives the name to be an acronym for "Drug Addicts Yield to Persuasion". A third account gives the name to be an acronym for "Drug Addicts Yield to Others Persuasion."

The Daytop program, one of the oldest drug-treatment programs in the United States, is based on the therapeutic community model and emphasizes the role of peer interaction in their modes of treatment. Considered one of the most successful programs of its kind, it is described as "a supportive emotional community in which people feel secure but at the same time are held strictly accountable for their behavior". It is estimated that 85 percent of those treated stay clean.

It was during a 1980 visit to Daytop Village that future first lady Nancy Reagan initially became aware of the drug epidemic in the United States and the toll it was taking on the nation's youth. This event is widely acknowledged as the genesis of her "Just Say No" program.

In late 2015, Daytop Village merged with Samaritan Village, another 50+ year old health and human services nonprofit organization with a specialty in drug and alcohol treatment. The newly merged organization changed its name to Samaritan Daytop Village. Daytop’s Mendham, New Jersey location has since closed amidst sexual and child abuse concerns.