meet our Team
mICHAEL rEGAN
Michael Regan has over 19 years of direct experience working as a Deputy Probation Officer and over the last 29 years he has been involved in researching and designing Probation and Correctional programs which have been proven effective at reducing recidivism. As a subject matter expert in “What Works at Reducing Recidivism in Corrections”, Michael has developed and presented hundreds of training courses for Probation and Correctional Departments in California which are based on Evidence Based Practices. Michael’s professional mission is to only offer trainings which are based on empirical research and have been shown to be effective at reducing recidivism.
Michael also has 30 years’ experience training working dogs in obedience herding, and handing. In 2015 Michael Regan became a certified trainer by the National Dangerous Animal Task Force NDATF. In 2015 he developed a K9 Encounters course designed to teach probation officers how to identify and safely work with aggressive dogs in the field. Michael Regan’s program reduced the amount of lethal force incidents used on canines in Kern County.
Rhonda Van Cleve
For the past 20 years, Rhonda has run group homes, level 14 facilities for adolescents, as well as psychiatric health facilities, from the highest to lowest levels of care in the state of California. She has a small private practice, specializing in depression and anxiety for children and adults. Rhonda has provided many trainings for the County of Kern, both probation and behavioral health, as well as in the private sector. She has presented on 2 occasions at the CASRA Conference, and she has guest lectured at California State University, of Bakersfield.
Rhonda is a DBT certified Instructor, and she is trained in Motivational Interviewing, Community Resiliency Model, WRAP, as well as CBT and Solution Focused Principles.
kAREN kARR-MARTINEZ
Karen has trained dogs and worked with dog packs for the past 25 years. She attended a six-month shadow program at Cesar Milan’s Dog Psychology Center (“The Dog Whisperer”), and she was mentored by Cesar Milan’s head Fundamentals Trainer. In 2015, Karen was certified as a trainer by the National Dangerous Animal Task Force (NDATF) and helped develop and deliver a K9 Encounters class for probation officers in the field designed to reduce the incidents of lethal dog encounters for law enforcement. The class is now required to be completed by all probation officers who work in an armed field unit. In 2014, Karen also completed a train-the-trainer course for the Static 99R, a legally required assessment tool used to estimate a sexual offender’s risk to reoffend. She has trained numerous officers on the tool in both the basic and recertification courses and is considered an expert on the topic.
kAthy Garcia
Kathy has 18 years of experience in probation including institutions, investigations, supervision, and rehabilitation. She has over 10 years of experience facilitating evidence-based programs and creating treatment packages designed to reduce recidivism. Kathy’s passion for helping others and her knowledge and experience in developing evidence-based programing, has led her to being considered a top subject matter expert in the field.