CASES Staff Highlight: Kelly Briem, Clinical Case Coordinator
Kelly Briem, LMSW, is a Clinical Case Coordinator on the CASES Brooklyn Pretrial Services team where she supports people who have been arrested while they wait for their day in court. Our Pretrial Services program allows legally innocent New Yorkers to avoid unnecessary and expensive stays at Rikers and remain connected to their families and communities while they fight their cases. In addition to preventing disruptions to housing, employment, and treatment through CASES Pretrial Services, Kelly connects her clients to community-based mental health care, substance use treatment, and other essential resources, helping them achieve their goals and permanently exit the criminal legal system.
It’s not only Kelly’s social work degree that qualifies her as a Clinical Case Coordinator. Like many of her clients, Kelly is formerly incarcerated and has spent years navigating the criminal legal system. She can empathize with experiences of street homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and the many structural barriers to success that our clients face on a daily basis. “I actually didn’t get my social work degree until I was 51,” Kelly says. “So, I’ve navigated my own barriers. And it’s taken me 20-some-odd years to come to this place where I ended up getting licensure.” Now that she has her license, Kelly is dedicated to helping court-involved New Yorkers navigate the complex, confusing and often frightening criminal legal system; providing an extra level of support and the comfort of knowing they don’t have to do it alone.
Day in the Life
“There isn’t a typical day. It’s by the seat of your pants,” Kelly says. Because everyone’s needs and experiences are unique, Kelly’s role involves meeting people where they are and understanding that everyone’s journey is different. Some clients may be navigating the shelter system or managing a chronic health condition. Others might be dealing with family court or trying to prevent their children from entering the foster care system. Many have a diagnosed mental illness. Because clients have often faced significant personal trauma, a crucial part of the job is creating a safe space for them to feel heard, validated, and respected.
Kelly’s work goes beyond paperwork and meetings, often requiring a hands-on, whatever-it-takes approach. She recently accompanied a client with extreme anxiety to a court date and waited outside for hours with his dog. Agreeing to bring the dog, one of the client’s few sources of comfort, was the only way she could coax him out of his house. Knowing the consequences of a missed court appointment, she went the extra mile.
These moments of support emphasize the importance of validating the client’s experiences. Oftentimes, people aren’t missing court because of a lack of respect for the process, but because of mental illness, lack of transportation, or family obligations. If there’s one guiding principle for Kelly’s work, it’s ensuring that clients are treated with humanity: “Creating dignity and respect, that’s a day-to-day thing, no matter what, because someone is not defined by their worst moment.”
Advocacy Outside the Courts
Kelly’s dedication to helping people doesn’t end with her work at CASES. When she’s off the clock, Kelly does community-based work with nonprofit organizations that support people who are directly impacted by jail and prison. She is as a member of the Justice 4 Women’s Task force—a collective of women and girls impacted by the criminal justice system, agencies, advocates, and supporters who fight for the rights of women and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers ensnared within the NYS and NYC carceral systems, which includes connecting recently released women to resources in their communities. Kelly is also an advocate for policies that will improve the lives of vulnerable New Yorkers. She supports the Treatment Not Jail Act, which expands access to mental health and drug treatment courts, as well as Shawanna’s Law, which requires comprehensive mental health care for incarcerated individuals, including for trauma and mental health issues related to their incarceration. “That’s one of the biggest things when people come home, there’s untreated PTSD” Kelly says. “So [Shawanna’s Law] recognizes the trauma caused from carceral systems.”
Client Success
One of Kelly’s most rewarding success stories involved a client who faced significant challenges after his apartment burned down seven years ago. Due to his conviction, he struggled to find a new place to live, and the Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) department placed him in a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) unit. However, after an alleged incident on HPD property, he was arrested and faced eviction. Determined to help, Kelly began making calls to several organizations, including the Coalition for the Homeless, to better understand the guidelines and processes around eviction. After gathering information from various organizations, Kelly consulted with her client and even attended HPD court with him, stepping outside of her comfort zone to advocate on his behalf since he couldn’t afford a lawyer. While they were in housing court, Kelly realized there was an exonerating surveillance video that had not been provided to the client’s public defender. She secured a copy for her client, leading to his charges being dismissed. Today, he’s thriving, living with his daughter and granddaughter, and enjoying his life as free man.
Visions for the Future
Looking toward the future, Kelly believes there’s a strong need for accountability in the criminal legal system and humanization for those who have been deeply hurt by it. Kelly calls on society to remember that those impacted by the system are people who have something important to offer the world. One of the most hopeful aspects of working at CASES is that directly impacted staff like Kelly, people with lived experience of the criminal legal and mental health care systems, are leading this change. “This plants seeds of hope. That’s the thing. Plant seeds of hope.”