Daytop
| Daytop Village, Daytop, aka Daytop Village New Jersey Inc., aka Daytop Preparatory School | |
|---|---|
 Daytop center in Brooklyn | |
| Industry | drug addiction treatment organization |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Founder | Dr. Daniel Casriel M.D Monsignor William B. O'Brien & Ex addict; Ron Brancato |
Number of locations | New York City, Mendham Borough, New Jersey[1][2] |
Area served | New Jersey [2] and New York |
| Parent | Daytop Village aka Daytop |
Daytop, or Daytop Village, or âDaytop Village New Jersey Inc.â is a drug addiction treatment organization with facilities in New York City and New Jersey, wherein numerous instances of child sexual abuse are known to have occurred.[3][4] It was founded in 1963[5] in Tottenville, Staten Island[6] 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[7] who also in 2019 was posthumously included by the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) of the Archdiocese of New York on its list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse.[8][9]
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.[2][10] The Mendham, New Jersey facility also included a school for juveniles called Daytop School.[2][10]
Father William B. O'Brien included controversial methods such as "attack therapy" (a pseudoscientific confrontational approach used contentiously by Synanon which involves verbal abuse or humiliation) and "behavior modification" (which has a history of criticism with regards to human dignity) in his addiction treatment methods.[11] Synanon has since been investigated as one of the "most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen."[12][13]
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.[14] 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."[7]
The Daytop program, one of the oldest drug-treatment programs in the United States,[7] is based on the therapeutic community model [15] whose history within the U.S. has it based in the Synanon Game. In spite of its controversies and abuses, it describes itself as "a supportive emotional community in which people feel secure but at the same time are held strictly accountable for their behavior".[16]
During a 1980 visit to Daytop Village future first lady Nancy Reagan initially became aware of the drug epidemic in the United States. This event is widely acknowledged as the genesis of her "Just Say No" program.[17]
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.[18][3]
Alleged victims of Msgr. O'Brien would be eligible to come forward with claims to the ICRP, although O'Brien died in 2014 before he could answer accusations.[8][9][19]
References
[edit]- â "DAYTOP VILLAGE OF NEW JERSEY INC, Mendham, NJ".
- 1 2 3 4 "Adolescent - Daytop - for a Drug Free World - New York, NY". Archived from the original on 2002-10-17.
- 1 2 "Ex-Daytop teacher admits sexual misdeeds with two residents". 19 October 2016. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
- â "23 Survivors File Daytop New Jersey Sexual Abuse Lawsuit". 27 March 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
- â Daytop History, accessed 26 September 2009
- â Daytop Village has new name, same mission: Saving lives Retrieved May 18, 2020
- 1 2 3 "A Pioneer in Residential Drug Treatment Reaches Out". New York Times. 13 Nov 1989.
- 1 2 "New York Archdiocese names 120 clergy accused of sexual misconduct". NBC News. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- 1 2 "Update on the Sexual Abuse Crisis". Archdiocese of New York. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- 1 2 "Daytop Mendham breaks ground". 10 June 2004.
- â Daytop History Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine , Daytop Homepage, retrieved 3/25/2010
- â "Synanon's Sober Utopia: How a Drug Rehab Program Became a Violent Cult". 15 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
- â Szalavitz, Maia (2007-08-20). "The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
- â "A Scream Away From Happiness". New York: Grosset & Dunlap. 1972 p. 47[ISBNÂ missing]
- â "About Us â Daytop New York â Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment". 22 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016.
- â Baumann, Paul (2002). "Family connections: Monsignor O'Brien's Daytop Village â Of Several Minds". Commonweal. 129 (22). Archived from the original on October 30, 2004 â via FindArticles.
- â "Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library". 12 August 2007. Archived from the original on 12 August 2007.
- â "Ex-Priest Indicted in Daytop Sex Abuse Madison Resident Charged with Endangering 4 Teen Boys in Rehab".
- â Vitello, Paul (2014-10-25). "Msgr. William O'Brien, 90, Dies; Innovator in Treating Drug Abuse". The New York Times. ISSNÂ 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
