Heidi received her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from San Diego State University in 1986. She then went on to earn her MSW from San Diego State in 1989.

Heidi is currently a Protective Services Supervisor for the County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency, South Region. Heidi has worked for HHSA since 1988 and has been a Supervisor for the Agency since 1999. Heidi currently supervises the Special Projects Unit, which

includes Placement Services, Team Decision Making, Family Preservation and Family to Family. In her 19 years of County service, Heidi has worked in Adoptions, Court Intervention, The Child Sexual Abuse Specialty Unit, Emergency Services and Training and Development. Currently, Heidi Co-Chairs the South Region Kinship Collaborative Oversite Committee and Chairs the South Region Family to Family Guiding Group. She is also the Chair for the San Diego Chapter of the San Diego Latino Social Work Network.

In addition to her routine responsibilities as a case manager and Supervisor for the Agency, Heidi also trains for the Grossmont College Foster, Adoption and Kinship Care Education Program (FAKCE). As a trainer for FAKCE, Heidi has taught PRIDE classes for new foster adoption parents, "The Importance of Sibling Relationships", "System Reform Efforts" and ""Team Decision Making" at foster parent support groups. She has also presented at the Title IVE Student Conference on California Redesign and at the State FAKCE conference on Team Decision Making. Heidi is also a trainer for the San Diego City College program, in a partnership with HHSA, to train staff at Polinsky Children's Center.

Currently, Heidi is a trainer for the HHSA South Region Parent Peer Support Group Program which educates parents about the court and CWS system, and trains SDM (Structured Decision Making) for the County of San Diego Training and Development Program.