Find the sources used in the Institute’s guides and the services those guides should support rather than replace. Each entry explains what the source supports, what it does not establish, and who is responsible for the service or decision.
Check each source’s own date. Updating the website does not mean its sources have been checked again.
Checked September 2, 2026. A source check records what that source publicly said when reviewed. It does not establish current staffing, service capacity, anyone’s eligibility, a case outcome, or endorsement of the Institute.
What would you like to check?
Source classes
What each kind of source can establish
How the source categories are used
Local authority / service
Local authority / service
Owns or directly operates the local program, service, contact, or decision.
Official program / public authority
Official program / public authority
Official federal, state, court, or public-program source that controls a rule, program description, directory, or process.
Native field / practice guidance
Native field / practice guidance
Native-specific practice guidance and resource infrastructure; useful for coverage and preparation but not controlling law or local Tribal authority.
Evidence / evaluation
Evidence / evaluation
Evaluates programs, models, evidence, or outcomes. It does not decide an individual person's case or eligibility.
Recorded category
Examples from other services
Helps the Institute avoid unnecessary duplication and understand established approaches; not a local route authority.
Original category label
Comparator / design precedent
Recorded category
Older sources and historical records
Retained for provenance or historical research when a current successor exists or the material is dated.
Original category label
Legacy / archive
What already exists
Existing services come first.
The Institute’s guides should help people reach existing services rather than duplicate them. The entries below record the services compared in the September 2, 2026 review.
Family Care — Pit River Health Service — Senior Nutrition
Provides meals and states that staff provide information and referral services to Tribal seniors to help identify and access available resources.
Institute contribution: Preparation before calls and care changes, family-controlled records, question prompts, continuity across contacts, and fallback when the first answer does not resolve the problem.
Must not replace: Senior Nutrition, Pit River Health Service, clinical care, local program eligibility, or local elder-service referral authority.
Confirm current contact and service details before relying on them.Original source-check label
Freshness: HIGH — verify local contact/service information before relying on it.
This recorded rating does not establish current availability or a new source check.
Responds to notices, coordinates with families, participates in court and case planning, connects resources, and works on placement preferences and family finding.
Institute contribution: Situation recognition, preparation before contact, family-controlled questions and records, and routing to the responsible authority.
Must not replace: Pit River ICWA authority, Tribal membership determinations, legal advice, court decisions, or case-specific Tribal positions.
Verify contacts before each release that routes directly to the department.Original source-check label
Freshness: HIGH — verify contacts before each release that routes directly to the department.
This recorded rating does not establish current availability or a new source check.
Free California service connecting kinship caregivers and current/former foster youth with Community Responders for individualized resource help, research, paperwork, and follow-up.
Institute contribution: Pit River-rooted preparation and authority-aware routing before or alongside the state service.
Must not replace: California Kinship Navigator staff, individualized state service navigation, or state/program decisions.
Verify service channels before direct referral.Original source-check label
Freshness: MEDIUM — verify service channels before direct referral.
This recorded rating does not establish current availability or a new source check.
Open responsible source →Education & Work — North State Careers / WestEd Center for Economic Mobility
Regional pathway tool connecting northern California occupations, skills, college programs, and related high-school career classes.
Institute contribution: Route fit under real household constraints, Tribal/member-specific support, financing, transfer/re-entry after interruption, and what to do when the apparent pathway breaks.
Must not replace: Regional occupation-to-program discovery that North State Careers already provides well.
Use the live regional tool for current pathway content.Original source-check label
Freshness: MEDIUM — use the live regional tool for current pathway content.
This recorded rating does not establish current availability or a new source check.
Pit River Tribal program addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and related emergency shelter or transitional-housing assistance subject to program conditions and funding.
Institute contribution: Nothing that requires using the NAVIGATE name. The Institute uncertainty route remains generic and should direct people toward responsible services where relevant.
Must not replace: PRT NAVIGATE, victim services, shelter/housing assistance, confidentiality practice, or program eligibility.
The official page is live but program details should be directly confirmed before consequential reliance.Original source-check label
Freshness: HIGH — the official page is live but program details should be directly confirmed before consequential reliance.
This recorded rating does not establish current availability or a new source check.
Sources added or restored in the September 2 review
NICWA, NICOA, and NRCNAA appeared in earlier Institute research but were missing from some source lists. The September 2 review restored them and added Native practice guidance, research evidence, and sources for comparison.
Family Care
Administration for Community Living — Older Americans Act Title VI — Authoritative federal description of Native nutrition, supportive services, information/referral, and caregiver-support grant functions. Limit: Does not establish which local services are currently funded, available, or available to a particular person.
National Indian Council on Aging — Native Caregiving — Native caregiver education and resource infrastructure, including Savvy Caregiver and caregiving materials. Limit: National practice/resource source; not a local provider or individualized care decision.
NICOA — Tribal Continuum of Care / Compass — Long-term services and supports planning and Native elder care resource infrastructure. Limit: Use live local provider sources for current service availability.
NRCNAA — Projects & Services / Native Service Locator — Native elder resource infrastructure and service-locator discovery. Limit: Directory/discovery source; current local service details require provider confirmation.
Children & Family
National Indian Child Welfare Association — Resources for Families — Current Native child-welfare family resources and advocacy tools, including 2026 family-navigation material. Limit: NICWA is not controlling law and does not replace the child's Tribe, court, counsel, or local program.
ACF Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse — Systematic evidence review and ratings for kinship navigator and other eligible programs/services. Limit: A program rating is not evidence that the Institute's own guide improves outcomes.
Native American Rights Fund / NILL — A Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act — Large topic-organized ICWA legal research guide and historical reference infrastructure. Limit: The electronic guide states linked resources were updated through September 2011; do not use it instead of current statutes, regulations, rules, BIA sources, or current case research.
WestEd Center for Economic Mobility — North State Careers project — Direct regional comparator for occupation, skills, college-program, and high-school pathway discovery in northern California. Limit: Comparator/discovery source; individual admission, funding, hiring, and transfer decisions remain with responsible institutions.
Source reconciliation does not create endorsement.
These organizations have not reviewed or approved the Institute's work unless a separate record says otherwise. Local programs and responsible authorities continue to own their services and decisions.