In the not-so-good old days, Douglas County’s abused and neglected children ended up in foster homes all across the state.

“The closest emergency shelter, I remember, was in McPherson,” said Judy Culley, executive director at The Shelter, 105 W. 11th St.

From Lawrence, that’s a three-hour drive.

“We used to send kids there because there wasn’t any place else,” Culley said. “We had some homes here, but they’d be full.”

In the process, struggling families often were torn apart.

That’s changed. Now, most Douglas County children remain in or near Douglas County and don’t face long drives to strange, faraway places.

“The Shelter has, over the years, helped keep our kids here – kept them in school, kept them close to their families so they could get family therapy,” said Jean Shepherd, Douglas County district court judge.

The change in approach started 25 years ago this week when Culley, then a graduate student at Kansas University, began her first day on a grant aimed at overhauling Douglas County’s lagging child welfare system.

Judy Culley is the executive director of The Shelter, 105 W. 11th St. The agency, which is devoted to abused and neglected children, celebrated its 25th anniversary this week. Culley has been at The Shelter since the beginning.

Since then, The Shelter has grown from an idea to a program that operates two 14-bed group homes, between 15 and 20 foster homes and an adoption service. Its social workers help police figure out how best to deal with juvenile offenders and children who’ve been abused.

“The important thing here is that 25 years ago we started the process for no longer exporting our kids to the hinterlands,” said Wint Winter Jr., a Lawrence lawyer who has served on The Shelter’s governing board since its inception.

“Judy Culley is our Mother Teresa. She has created a safe place for Lawrence’s children and for the children of Douglas County,” he said.

Appreciative board members recently asked Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to declare Dec. 19-23 as “Judith A. Culley Week.” Culley received the proclamation Thursday.

“She’s a great advocate for kids,” said board member Brenda McFadden.

The board’s accolades caught Culley off-guard.

“I appreciate being appreciated, I really do,” she said. “But the services we provide are what this agency is about, not me.”

McFadden and Winter praised Culley for her handling of the agency’s response to lawmakers deciding to privatize most of the state’s child welfare system in 1996.

“It’s been a remarkable thing,” Winter said. “We’ve not gotten too big, and we’ve not gotten too small. And yet with all the dramatic changes in funding that have forced so many agencies out of business, we’re still here helping kids and families.”

Today, The Shelter has a $2 million budget and 38 full- or part-time employees.

The secret, Culley said, has been to keep the agency focused on its services rather than on events it cannot control.

“I pay attention, certainly,” she said. “But services come first.”

Culley, too, praised Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, school officials, police and local Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services workers.

“The whole community,” she said, “works hard to keep kids safe.”

Last year, about 1,300 children received services through The Shelter.

“Compared to other communities our size, our numbers (children in foster care) are low,” Shepherd said. “That, in part, certainly is due to services offered by The Shelter.”

“The Shelter has been a godsend for us,” said Lawrence police Capt. Dan Affalter. “They’ve really saved us a lot of man-hours, making sure kids get put in the most appropriate places.”