
Center for Family Life, a program of SCO Family of Services, is a neighborhood-based family and social services organization with deep roots in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The work of Center for Family Life is grounded in the daily, lived experience of the Sunset Park community and guided by a vision of neighborhood families and social institutions evolving over time and contributing to each other’s ongoing development.
Our comprehensive range of services aims to sustain and nurture families, and to create a supportive community from which children can emerge as confident, capable adults.
The Center’s programs are designed to reinforce the role of the agency as a stabilizing anchor in the community, one that provides culturally consonant services and creates environments where participants’ strengths are recognized and they are treated as valued partners rather than subjects.
Through our extensive portfolio of integrated services, Center for Family Life serves over 15,000 individuals in over 8,000 families each year.
What’s Happening at CFL
Please see our COVID-19 Updates page to the left for the latest updates on CFL programs and services or click here.
FREE Tax Preparation
CFL’s free tax preparation program is open for the season. This year, we are offering both in-person tax prep services at our Sunset Park office (443 39th Street, Brooklyn) and self-preparation for clients who would like to prepare their own taxes via TurboTax. Both options are free for those who qualify!
In-Person Tax Preparation
All in-person tax services are by appointment only. Please schedule an appointment here http://bit.ly/cfl-tax, and be sure to bring your ID, Social Security number and/or ITIN, and tax documents to your appointment at our office.
Self-Preparation
Want to do your own taxes with the help of free software? Access TurboTax via this link: https://freefile.intuit.com/?vitaSiteId=S12091045. Please note that you must meet one of the following requirements to access this software free of charge:
- Under $39,000 AGI, or
- Eligible for EITC, or
- Active Duty Military and under $72,000 AGI
Please follow this link to read the in-depth write up of our Life Lines program, published by Barbara Cervone on What Kids Can Do.org. Ms. Cervone joined the Life Lines camping retreat and attended the subsequent “Connections” performance- where she spent considerable time interviewing our dedicated staff and participants. Life Lines: Finding Family through Musical Improv in Sunset Park captures Life Lines’ vibrant energy, use of social group work to engage and empower youth, camaraderie, and lasting impact on students.
Take a minute to listen WNYC’s powerful story highlighting CFL’s innovative Sanctuary Families Project.
“The bottom line is, if there are dozens of children in Sunset Park who suddenly had nowhere to go and I had space, how could I not do this?” she said.

We help
1,700
children get ready for kindergarten

Last year, we placed
1,470
youth in employment, subsidized employment or internships