As the largest federal law enforcement agency in the United States, the FBI has a significant share of the workload in identifying and providing assistance to victims and witnesses. The Bureau's Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) was established to help assist those who have suffered, or been threatened with, direct physical, emotional, and/or other kinds of harm as a result of a commission of a federal crime investigated by the FBI.

The FBI provides victims and witnesses with their first, and sometimes only, contact with the federal criminal justice system. The Minneapolis Division has eight OVA Specialists who serve as the point of contact in such instances. There is a Victim Specialist assigned to the Minneapolis office and to the Grand Forks, ND, Bismarck, ND, Minot, ND, Aberdeen, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, Rapid City, SD, and Pierre, SD, Resident Agencies (RAs), the latter seven primarily concerned with Crimes in Indian Country.

Special Agents will also sometimes act as a liaison in the coordination of the program's activities and services with outside agencies and organizations.