Bilingual International Assistant Services
Working for the Underserved Since 2002
Bilingual International Assistant Services
EIN: 56-2376877
Mission
Our mission is to ensure equal access to health, mental health, and social services for all, regardless of national origin or language ability, through advocacy, education, and direct multilingual services that we provide.
Ruling year
2003
Executive Director
Dr. Jason Baker
Main address
1329 Macklind Ave Ste 200
Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA
EIN
56-2376877
Immigrants' rights
Human services
Immigrant services
Population served
Seniors
Ethnic and racial groups
Immigrants and migrants
Immigrants
Refugees and displaced people
NTEE code
(Human Service Organizations) (P20)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Immigrants often arrive in America with no English language skills, very little or no support, with many complex trauma that inhibits their ability to adapt and thrive in our society. We seek to help these immigrants gain access to healthcare, therapy, and other human services through various community-based programs that we offer. Such programs include mental health initiatives like Project Safe Space for children, Survivors of Torture and War Trauma, and Steps to Better Health. We also provide naturalization services through our tutoring program, as well as interpretive services for all these programs. 90% of our services are delivered in the community-at homes, schools, and medical facilities throughout the St. Louis region.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Mental Health Services
Bilingual International Assistant Services maintains certification from the Missouri Department of Mental Health for its multiple lines of adult and youth behavioral health programming. For almost two decades, we have worked to break down stigma around counseling and mental health work in the communities we serve. We offer several tracks of mental health services, including Steps to Better Health, Trauma Informed Care with Survivors of Torture and War Trauma, Crisis interventions, Trauma-Focused Counseling with Immigrant and Refugee Youth (Project Safe Space, ages 5 - 19 years of age), and full psycho-social assessments. Mental Health services are offered to children and adults. Most services delivered in-home, in-school, or community settings.
With the 2014 introduction of children’s trauma counseling (ages 5 - 19 years) and the 2016 merger with the St. Louis Center for Survivors of Torture, we took on a service mandate for some of the most difficult trauma treatment in the field. We embrace this challenge and know firsthand that rehabilitation work can be successful and benefit whole communities. BIAS employs only fully or provisionally licensed mental health clinicians across all of its programming, because our clients deserve no less.
Social Services
Imagine trying to comprehend the many different varieties of Medicare in something other than your native language. Now tackle food stamp applications. Recertification. MoHealthNet benefits…
Our multilingual Social Service professionals help mitigate the anxiety and confusion of navigating systems of care for foreign-born adults – especially seniors. Anchored by our Macklind International Senior Center (shuttered for 9 months of 2020 due to COVID), our Community Access Workers provide direct services – including citizenship assistance – in the communities we serve. We ensure that everyone can obtain supports for which they are legally eligible.
Senior Services
Macklind International is the first and only designated minority ethnic senior center in Missouri. Senior center offers multilingual services, ethnic food and transportation to several diverse senior groups. These seniors enjoy socialization, learning and occasional tours around Saint Louis
Education and Advocacy
Education, provided to both groups and individuals, includes the following topics: US History and US Civics to seniors and survivors of trauma; community education and provider education regarding how to structure and optimize the use of interpreters; advocacy pertaining to Title VI and CLAS standards; education and enrollment as CLAIM Medicare counselors; Affordable Care Act Navigators, and more.
Language Services
In over 40 languages and for nearly two decades, Bilingual International Assistant Services has provided professional language interpretation and written translation services for St. Louis and the surrounding region. A team of professional interpreters with working experience across a wide spectrum of settings offers services. We adopt a non-advocacy model of interpretation, allowing the provider to take charge of each session and empowering a consumer to practice their right to self-determination.
Skills demonstrated by our interpreters:
* Proficiency in both English and the target language
* General knowledge and understanding of both cultures
* Ability to communicate clearly and concisely in both languages
* General knowledge of the subject to be interpreted
* Strict compliance with government-mandated privacy laws
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants, Economically disadvantaged people, People with psychosocial disabilities
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our main goal continues to be remaining nimble enough to identify service gaps for the Refugee, Immigrant, and Migrant communities and addressing these with quickly professional services. All of our services are oriented toward eliminating barriers to care for underserved populations, specifically in the St. Louis area. As an organization, we are looking to diversify revenue and retain staff as we add programming. We are also invested in ensuring continuity of leadership and continuity of services. Finally, we are committed to raising our agency's profile and bringing more awareness to the critical work we do.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Ongoing elimination of service barriers to legal, mental health, and social services created by systemic racism, language access, and immigration status through professional no-cost/low-cost navigation by linguistically and culturally competent staff.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Agency has a committed Board that created the Strategic Plan during a convened 2-day Board Retreat in 2020. Board requires Executive Director to update and submit progress toward plan goals quarterly. An invested core of long-term employees was also engaged in the planning and the execution of plan activities. Most of the direct service staff is already in place to carry out service expansion activities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have hired an Assistant Director to provide continuity of leadership. We have increased service revenue in Language Services and Legal activities. We are in the process of revamping annual review procedures and compensation reviews to enhance employee engagement. We have expanded adult mental health services to Afghan evacuees. We are in the process of building out our public agency profile.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Immigrant and refugee community members facing multiple barriers including language ability, poverty, inability to navigate systems, health inequity, and their own trauma histories.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Suggestion box/email,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
A review of case notes was recently supported by the results of a randomized Quality Assurance inquiry of current clients, in which - during the COVID-19 pandemic - clients overwhelmingly desired a shift from more clinical services to assistance with basic resource location. We responded by incorporating traditional case management into clinical mental health programs and have already received positive feedback from clients in the form of narrative affirmations and decreased stress metric scores.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
As we have always prided ourselves on being first and foremost a responsive agency, it didn't feel like much of a shift to formalize the feedback/QA inquiry process. As ground-level service providers, we are constantly working directly with clients to address needs. As the needs change, so does our programming. I don't feel that there has been any appreciable power shift in the relationship with clients. Our programming has always been client-centered, and clients collaborate on treatment plans and the determination of goals.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Language barriers and costs associated with interpretation/translation,
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2020 info
2.29
Months of cash in 2020 info
5.1
Fringe rate in 2020 info
14%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Bilingual International Assistant Services
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
Bilingual International Assistant Services
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
This snapshot of Bilingual International Assistant Services’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
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Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | -$50,361 | $161,390 | $18,019 | $36,727 | $56,966 |
| As % of expenses | -5.7% | 10.1% | 1.1% | 2.4% | 3.4% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | -$58,018 | $154,392 | $15,754 | $36,230 | $56,966 |
| As % of expenses | -6.5% | 9.7% | 1.0% | 2.4% | 3.4% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $837,425 | $1,752,883 | $1,639,964 | $1,606,385 | $1,737,683 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 15.0% | 0.0% | -6.4% | -2.0% | 8.2% |
| Program services revenue | 12.6% | 26.5% | 21.8% | 23.9% | 16.8% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Government grants | 72.6% | 5.5% | 7.1% | 20.5% | 27.5% |
| All other grants and contributions | 12.7% | 63.4% | 70.7% | 55.2% | 55.5% |
| Other revenue | 2.2% | 4.6% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $888,611 | $1,591,493 | $1,621,945 | $1,518,459 | $1,672,775 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 21.0% | 0.0% | 1.9% | -6.4% | 10.2% |
| Personnel | 58.8% | 64.6% | 66.4% | 68.8% | 68.3% |
| Professional fees | 19.3% | 2.8% | 1.9% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Occupancy | 7.7% | 6.0% | 6.8% | 8.5% | 7.3% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other expenses | 14.2% | 26.6% | 24.9% | 20.2% | 21.8% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $896,268 | $1,598,491 | $1,624,210 | $1,518,956 | $1,672,775 |
| One month of savings | $74,051 | $132,624 | $135,162 | $126,538 | $139,398 |
| Debt principal payment | $4,762 | $13,600 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $975,081 | $1,744,715 | $1,759,372 | $1,645,494 | $1,812,173 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 5.1 |
| Months of cash and investments | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 5.1 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 1.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $225,906 | $416,623 | $374,049 | $464,108 | $705,805 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $54,667 | $144,009 | $141,340 | $159,245 | $201,263 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $40,447 | $58,425 | $58,425 | $497 | $0 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 67.0% | 95.3% | 99.1% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 23.7% | 17.1% | 14.5% | 15.2% | 34.5% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $151,339 | $414,228 | $429,982 | $466,212 | $523,178 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $73,466 | $53,301 | $11,634 | $62,833 | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $73,466 | $53,301 | $11,634 | $62,833 | $70,775 |
| Total net assets | $224,805 | $467,529 | $441,616 | $529,045 | $593,953 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Executive Director
Dr. Jason Baker
JASON BAKER received his Ph.D. in Languages and Literatures from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007. While working as (among other things) an adjunct German professor, he served as a volunteer citizenship tutor in the Naturalization Assistance program for two years before leaving the academic arena entirely and coming on board as Interpreter Coordinator in 2012. For four years, Jason assisted the agency’s founder, Julia Ostropolsky, LCSW, with strategic planning, grant and financial management, and day-to-day agency operations before accepting directorship in 2016. As Executive Director, Jason is dedicated to carrying out the founder’s vision of equal access to services for all. A native St. Louisan, he has never had a more challenging, exhausting, or rewarding job.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Bilingual International Assistant Services
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Bilingual International Assistant Services
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Bilingual International Assistant Services
Board of directorsas of 02/24/2023
Board of directors data
Diane Magee
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Mario Lozina
AT&T Corporate Finance
Scott Wright
Enterprise Holdings Inc.
David Donovan
MO Dept. of Natural Resources
Luis La Torre
La Torre Legal
Zachary Mueller
Atty., Self-employed
Sharafina Azman al Rashid
Aon plc.
Elizabeth Lemma
Pharmacist, Walgreens
Lou Abboussie
Director, Dutchtown Care and Rehabilitation Center
Jim Beatty
Lindbergh School District, Foreign Language Dept. Director, Retired
David Donovan
Inspector, Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources
Bob Foster
Exec. Dir., Lewis and Clark Museum
Heidi Moore
Academic Advisor, SLU, and Ph.D. Candidate, SLU
Anwuli Okwuashi
Economic Analyst, SLU
Matthew Ma
Clergy, Society of Jesus
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/13/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
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- Contractor and/or Paid Preparer data for 2013, 2012, 2011
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