Unlike most state routes, NY 438 is entirely locally maintained. The Seneca Nation of Indians, the tribe with jurisdiction over the Cattaraugus Reservation, maintains all of the road on the reservation (which is all of the road except the southernmost , which lies outside the reservation bounds). From the reservation line southward, maintenance of the short stretch of road is divided among three municipalities: Erie County maintains , followed by of road maintained by the town of Collins. The southernmost of the route is within the village of Gowanda and is maintained by the village.