The Financial Assistance Review Committee, better known as FARC, is the committee which reviews applications for the Rescue Squad Assistance Fund (RSAF) grants. FARC was created in 1978 by the EMS Advisory Council to carry out the responsibility of reviewing RSAF grant applications and recommend funding. In 1996, FARC was established by §32.1-111.12:01 in the Code of Virginia for the purposes of administering the Virginia RSAF grant funds. The purpose of FARC is to review the RSAF grant applications from eligible licensed Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies and not for profit organizations that operative exclusively for the benefit of the general public and then make recommendations to the Commissioner of Health.
The FARC is composed of six members, including a chairman, who each represent an EMS region throughout Virginia.
Each FARC members is appointed by the EMS Advisory Board and serves a three-year term. No member may serve more than two successive terms. The chairman is elected from the membership of the FARC for a term of one year and is eligible for re-election. Membership on FARC rotates on a cycle so geographic representation is achieved from all EMS regions.
The FARC meets a minimum of four times a year. The quarterly meetings are scheduled the day before each EMS Advisory Board meeting which takes place in February, May, August and November. The FARC meets twice a year for the RSAF awards meeting which are scheduled during the first week of June and December.
FARC reports bi-annually after each funding cycle to the EMS Advisory Board and the Commissioner of Health. The FARC reports on the number of grant applications received, the total costs of grant applications funded, the number of grant applications denied funding and the nature of the denied requests and the reason for denying funding.
Robert A. Brown – Chair
Brad Ferguson
Dan Butler
Wayne Peer
Stuart Smith
Karen Wagner
PEMS Region
BREMS Region
REMS Region
CSEMS Region
TJEMS Region
Lord Fairfax Region
The FARC tours two of the EMS regions annually for a Spring and Fall tour. The tour is coordinated by the OEMS Grants Unit, the EMS Regional Council, and the OEMS program representative that represents the selected EMS region. FARC determines at their quarterly meetings what region they would like to visit; this can depend on many factors:
The FARC tours allow the FARC members to meet face to face with the EMS agencies and interact with the providers out in the field. FARC tours for one and a half days and usually visits three to four EMS agencies on each tour. These tours allow FARC to observe some of the items and programs that RSAF has funded in the past and the impact the funding has had on the agencies. The FARC tours try to blend rural, suburban, and urban agencies within a region so full impact can be achieved regarding agency need for funding from the RSAF grant program.
The ODEMSA region was visited for the FARC Spring Tour for 2007. The powerpoint presentation of the tour can be accessed from the OEMS Website. FARC will tour the PEMS region for the FARC Fall Tour which will take place in September 2007. For more information regarding FARC contact Amanda Davis, Grants Manager at 804-864-7611 or Linwood Pulling, Grants Specialist at 804-864-7612.