Lerman was born in Chicago, Illinois. She began acting as a young child, appearing in the first National Tour of Annie where she played Tessie, and making her first professional screen performance in the 1982 film of the show, where she played a different character named Kate. April was then cast as Lila in the first season of Charles in Charge (1984), but the show underwent a major revamp in 1986 after being canceled in 1985 and most of the cast, including Lerman, were replaced by other actors. She spent the next few years working as an actress, appearing as a guest star in TV shows, such as Kate & Allie, Growing Pains, and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.

April divorced attorney William Pearson Haney in 2015. She has a son with him named Sean Haney. She had attended Pepperdine University School of Law and was admitted to the California Bar in 1995 but declined to pursue a career in the legal field, saying it would have been too stressful for her. When her son was seven years old, she went back to school and received a Master’s degree from University of Santa Monica in Counseling Psychology. April now works in a community counseling group in Thousand Oaks, California, where she works primarily with children and adolescents.