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Feather O'Connor Houstoun

Feather O'Connor Houstoun

Contributor

Feather O'Connor Houstoun, who has held positions at every level of government, is a senior adviser to the Wyncote Foundation on public media and journalism and a former president of the William Penn Foundation. She was a member of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission from December 2011 to October 2016.

Houstoun served as Pennsylvania's secretary of public welfare during Gov. Tom Ridge's administration, New Jersey state treasurer under Gov. Tom Kean, chief financial officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, and in a number of senior positions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Despite an accompanying funding cut, a block-granting experiment in Pennsylvania is showing promise for improving the way vulnerable populations are helped.
Sometimes even the best program design and execution fail to get a government service to a recipient who needs it. There are ways to overcome those final hurdles.
Taking advantage of a state law encouraging local-government consolidations, the two New Jersey municipalities found a path that other places might follow.