The US federal assistance programme introduced in 1997 to succeed the Aid to Families with Dependent Children programme. TANF provides cash assistance to families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Its key feature is a 60-month lifetime limit on the receipt of benefits. In 2015 the total expenditure of the TANF programme was just under $31.7 billion, with 4.1 million people receiving assistance.