Leahann Romero, 2020 Women of the Year

From the Idaho Business Review

Although many people likely view reporting to a probation officer as a punishment, Ada County Juvenile Court Probation Supervisor Leahann Romero said her goal is to instead make those visits about rehabilitation.

It’s an approach that has shown success. By helping juveniles in the criminal court system set and meet goals, Romero is able to help at-risk kids get off probation early, find new directions for their lives, graduate high school and go on to college. Romero said she’s even gotten a letter from a former client who wrote to tell her they’d gone into criminal justice.

“I see a lot of rewarding things,” she said.

Still, she admits that not everyone sees it that way.