The Stay'n Out Programs, New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. honors Senator Montgomery at their 40th Anniversary Celebration

Ronald Williams, President / CEO / Founder and The Stay'n Out Programs, New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. honored Senator Montgomery for her steadfast leadership and partnership at their 40th Anniversary Celebration on June 2nd. The event also honored Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, former President of the Phoenix House, who was the Chairman of the Board when Ron Williams began their in-prison TC project in 1977 that became the Stay'n Out program; and Edward Hammock, Esq., former Chairman of the NYS Board of Parole and Chief Executive Officer of the NYS Division of Parole, who provided great assistance in establishing the Stay'n Out program.

Senator Montgomery is a proud and long-time supporter of this organization which administers two programs located in the 25th Senate District, Serendipity I (For Men) and Serendipity II (For Women). Serendipity I and II are residential programs primarily for individuals in the criminal justice system who have a substance abuse problem requiring longer-term residential intervention. These two programs also offer treatment to former prisoners re-entering society, as well as providing an effective alternative-to-incarceration to others so that they may become productive citizens who no longer are a burden to society.

New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation which provides substance abuse treatment and other services to persons in need.  For the past 40 years, New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. (NYTC) has provided substance abuse treatment primarily to adults in the criminal justice system. They operate licensed community-based residential and outpatient programs utilizing a therapeutic community (TC) model. Their mission is to help program participants effect those changes in attitude and behavior that will enable them to make choices associated with a healthy, positive lifestyle free of crime and drugs.

A pioneer in the adaptation of TC chemical dependency treatment methods to the prison setting, Stay'n Out Training & Development has trained corrections personnel in thirty-eight states and nine other countries, and has launched or helped implement prison TCs in New York, Ohio, Delaware, South Carolina, Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii and Texas, as well as in Malaysia, Thailand, and Columbia. The New York in-prison programs, also named Stay'n Out, set the standards for thirty-one years before being closed during the 2008 New York State fiscal crisis. Based upon the principles of personal responsibility, self-help, and mutual care, the Stay’n Out model for in-prison treatment has a proven 77% success rate for those who complete their program.

The Serendipity community-based residential programs enable those involved in the criminal justice system to prepare themselves to re-enter society. Serendipity also offers a cost-effective alternative-to-incarceration (ATI) for those persons for whom rehabilitation is the priority. The NYTC, Inc. Outpatient Programs offer non-residential substance abuse treatment to criminal justice clients and other persons in Brooklyn and Queens, as well as aftercare support to those who have completed the Serendipity programs.

For more information about New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc., visit http://www.staynout.org/

To learn more about New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc. work in Senator Montgomery's district, visit https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/velmanette-montgomery/senator-montgomery-and-senator-roxanne-j-persaud-continue