The following editorial appeared Thursday in the Tri-City Herald.

The Department of Social and Health Services put a man convicted of embezzlement and fraud in charge of a $32 million program and – surprise, surprise – he ended up stealing more than $125,000.

It’s another in a series of missteps by the state agency, which doesn’t seem to be able to screen its employees’ criminal histories with much success, and a sad state of affairs for an organization charged with helping many who can’t help themselves.

Arthur Krontz of Walla Walla had felony convictions – for scamming a health insurance company, no less – and spent time in federal prison before moving to Washington, where he got a degree in social services before signing on with DSHS as a social worker in 1999.

Within a year he was promoted and placed at the helm of a new $32 million program to help severely disabled youngsters and their families pay medical expenses.

Krontz’s attorney put the blame back on DSHS, citing the felon’s “inability to avoid temptation.” That’s an understatement.

Who puts a convicted embezzler in charge of a $32 million budget, anyway? And with little to no oversight?

DSHS, apparently.

Criminal investigator L. “Pete” Peterson said Krontz was able to embezzle more from DSHS than any other employee in the investigator’s 15 years with the agency. Luckily for DSHS, Krontz became ill or the bills for the services of a fictitious business he set up still could be accumulating today.

It wasn’t until a replacement for the ailing Krontz was brought in that the problems came to light.

Krontz and his wife ran their scam for more than three years, submitting invoices to providers funded by the state for phony services from his fake business. His replacement discovered falsified court documents, and the web of deceit grew from there.

Krontz was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison earlier this month. His wife got 30 days and, more than likely, a one-way ticket back to her home in Great Britain upon her release.

Investigators discovered Art Krontz’s criminal past only after the investigation was under way. “There were policies and procedures in place that were ignored,” Peterson said of Krontz’s hiring by DSHS.

And while Krontz is to blame for taking the money, Peterson also faulted DSHS for failing to follow its hiring procedures and placing him in charge of the program, as well as failing to provide supervision or even an audit of its payouts.

Those dependent on the services of DSHS deserve to be able to trust its employees. Instead, the Krontz case gives people one more reason to be wary of the system.