Correctional leaders are grappling with increasing pre-trial populations, chronic staff shortages, high rates of burnout, and overwhelming service requirements needed to support their complex justice-involved populations. This session introduces Hapi—a human-led, dual-system artificial intelligence powered digital companion—as a blueprint for scalable solutions across four correctional domains: Discharge Planning, Crisis Intervention, Mental Health, and Community Supervision
Hapi is purpose-built to enhance human staffing, providing 24/7 trauma-informed support to residents and community corrections clients via secure closed-network tablets or SMS. Utilizing AI for personalized responses and ethical triage, Hapi initiates comprehensive discharge planning months before release, assisting residents with complex resource navigation for housing, ID, employment, and health services. Crucially, Hapi retains conversational memory and confidentiality across environments enabling the resident's discharge plan to seamlessly transfer from custody to community, establishing a personalized continuum of care between environments.
Hapi simultaneously mitigates staff burnout by offloading time consuming tasks of responding to routine queries, providing quick access to internal protocols, and when deployed for staff wellness, Hapi offers responders a confidential, 24/7 mental health support tool that is accessible when they need it - while on the job or at home. Human-in-the-loop guardrails ensure ethical boundaries, and the system’s triage capabilities trigger immediate human alerts for high-risk crises like self-harm or overdose helping to mitigate the tragic number of people dying in custody. The session will provide a decision framework, live scenario walkthroughs, and an implementation checklist, demonstrating the feasibility of this multilingual, low-bandwidth technology to deliver measurable improvements for both staff and residents.
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Shay Sharma
Founder, Duologue Systems, Canada
Shay Sharma - Founder of Duologue Systems. Shay Sharma is a technology innovator with 8+ years of experience in product development and digital transformation. As the founder of Duologue Systems and CEO of Bluejarvis Technologies, she has consistently demonstrated her ability to turn concepts into functional, sustainable digital products and programs. Shay's educational background includes a Bachelor's in Engineering from the University of Alberta. Throughout her career, Shay has honed her skills in product development and management, AI model implementation, and digital transformation for non-profits and government entities. She excels in user-centric design, stakeholder management, and partnership development, with a particular focus on social impact initiatives and community engagement. Shay's expertise is evident in her notable projects. She developed Ally, a platform that streamlines mentorship processes for internationally trained physicians by integrating career and licensure advisor insights with LinkedIn data. Another significant achievement is COLLAB., a tool for collaborative community issue-solving that was adopted by the City of Edmonton. Her work extends to creating AI models for the Government of Alberta and BC Ferries, showcasing her versatility in applying technology to diverse sectors. Beyond her professional endeavors, Shay is actively involved in community initiatives. She contributes to the Indo Canadian Women's Association (ICWA) as a fundraiser for programs that assist women with domestic violence and serves as the secretary of Technology Alberta's board, playing a vital role in supporting and developing Alberta's tech ecosystem.
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Andrea Monteiro
Founder and Principal Consultant, Ethical Correctional Consulting Inc., Canada
Andrea Monteiro is the founder of Ethical Correctional Consulting Inc., a social enterprise providing solution-focussed advice on safe and humane, criminal, health, and social justice policy and operations. She is also the current President of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Prior to establishing ECC, Ms. Monteiro held public service positions across Canada including Director of Corrections, Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, and Senior Policy Advisor. Ms. Monteiro has worked with national and international correctional agencies and community-based organizations supporting justice-involved individuals for over 23 years. She has a Sociology degree, a Master of Arts in Criminology, and was a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies. Ms. Monteiro has appeared on national radio and television to discuss correctional reform and has co-authored and published several high-profile public reports and journal articles relating to the provision of correctional services in Canada.
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Jessica DeVries
Data and AI Evaluation Advisor, Duologue Systems, Canada
Jessica DeVries is a research and evaluation specialist with over 12 years of experience supporting public sector organizations across Canada. As Director of Program Development at Pivotal Research, she leads complex, multi-stakeholder projects that integrate mixed-methods research, performance measurement, and applied evaluation. Jessica is known for her ability to manage high-impact initiatives from design through delivery—balancing technical precision with responsiveness to context and client goals. Her portfolio includes long-term tracking studies for transit authorities, regulatory performance reviews in health, and stakeholder engagement research to inform service delivery improvements.
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Arts in Community Engagement from the University of Alberta, where she received the Dean’s Gold Medal for her thesis on how formerly incarcerated women define success after prison. She is a Certified Analytics and Insights Professional and a member of the Canadian Evaluation Society.
Since the inception of Hapi, Jessica has served as an advisor to Duologue Systems, contributing to the development of the SMS-based tool that supports individuals navigating reentry after incarceration. Her expertise in project management, stakeholder engagement, and evaluation helps ensure Hapi is both evidence-informed and practically grounded. Her work is also shaped by nearly a decade of volunteer service with Correctional Service Canada and The Mustard Seed, supporting individuals as they transition back into the community. Jessica brings a deep commitment to equity, trauma-informed practice, and system-level impact.
