Daytop, or Daytop Village, is a

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...

treatment organization with facilities in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was founded in 1963 in Tottenville,

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

Daniel Harold Casriel Daniel Harold Casriel (March 1, 1924 – June 7, 1983) was an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and writer from New York City.The New York Times; Obituary June 10, 1983, Friday Late City Final Edition, Section D, Page 19 Casriel's method of ...

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 Synanon is a US-founded social organization created by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr. in 1958 in Santa Monica, California, United States. It is currently active in Germany. Originally established as a drug rehabilitation program, by the early ...

(founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr., (1913–1997) in 1958 in Santa Monica) was the only drug rehabilitation program until Daytop Village NY. According to Dr. Casriel its name was originally an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for 'Drug Addicts Yield to Probation' as Daytop was originally a kind of "

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

" 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 Therapeutic community is a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction. The approach was usually residential, with the clients and therapists living together, but increasingly residential ...

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 Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in N ...

initially became aware of the drug epidemic in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the toll it was taking on the nation's youth. This event is widely acknowledged as the genesis of her "

Just Say No "Just Say No" was an advertising campaign prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s as a part of the U.S.-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying ''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.

References

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External links

Daytop website

World Federation of Therapeutic Communities
Drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers Therapeutic community Addiction organizations in the United States Mental health organizations in New York (state) 1963 establishments in New York City