Heather Whelan graduated from Biola University with a B.A. in Sociology and a concentration in Social Work. During this time, Heather worked as a behavior interventionist for children with Autism.
Heather is currently in her 3rd year of Law School at Northwestern California University.
Heather taught elementary school in North Africa for three years and assisted in a local orphanage. Upon returning back to the United States, Heather spent 12 years teaching elementary school in both private and public schools in the Los Angeles area. As a teacher, she worked with hundreds of students with a range of academic challenges and she was committed to seeing each one succeed.
Before pursuing a career in law, Heather served as a foster parent to nearly 50 children ranging from newborns to emancipated youth. Heather has since adopted 5 children from foster care, all of whom have various cognitive, developmental, mental, or emotional special needs, including Autism.
She brings meaningful experience working alongside many attorneys over the last decade to ensure the safety and well-being of children in her care and has participated in hundreds of IEPs to help ensure children are receiving a Free Appropriate Public Education. Heather has practical experience navigating private, public, and charter schools and continues to be an advocate in the community for finding safe and permanent homes for at-risk children.
My passion has always been for helping vulnerable and at-risk children, from working in an orphanage in Africa, to teaching special needs children in LA schools, to fostering and adopting vulnerable youth. Through those experiences, I have witnessed firsthand the legal obstacles children face in accessing educational services, navigating the child
welfare system, and finalizing adoptions both independently and from foster care. These challenges motivated me to enter the legal field to advocate for vulnerable youth and ensure they receive the rights and protections they deserve. I am excited to intern at Moore Law for Children while I finish law school.
