South End community leaders say they have not heard from the Coordinated Response Teams’ new director who has been on the job since September, despite growing concerns of the Mass and Cass diaspora moving throughout the city.

The Coordinated Response Team (CRT) coordinates with twelve city departments, focusing their work on those experiencing homelessness and substance use disorder around Mass and Cass’s surrounding communities.

Andrew Brand, co-president of the Worcester Square Area Neighborhood association said that once police increased their presence at the intersection of Mass and Cass earlier this fall, more issues began to arise.

“We actually cancelled a cleanup because there’s so many needles now that we were just afraid that people would, you know, try to pick up some leaves and there would be a needle buried in the leaves,” Brand said.

Aggressive interactions with residents, stolen packages and “unpleasant” bus stops have been all too common, Brand says. While things have slowed down for the colder months, he anticipates a return in the spring.

Brand said that the neighborhood association has in the past reached out to the city’s CRT on these issues but say it has been little help. They’ve instead begun to reach out to elected officials and police.

“I don’t know if I’d say it’s not being heard, I’d say they hear it and they’re not acting,” Brand said.

Steve Fox, chair of the South End Forum said that there was a time when the CRT would often attend meetings of the Working Group on Addiction Recovery and Homelessness, of which Fox is also the chair. He added that he worked closely with former CRT director Tania Del Rio on issues at Mass and Cass.

That group has not met in nearly eight months, Fox said.

Early this year Del Rio was appointed commissioner of the Inspectional Services Department. Two co-directors were made acting co-directors of the CRT before the current director, Kelli Young, took the position.

Both Fox and Brand have yet to meet the new director.

The Mayor’s Press Office did not make Young available for an interview despite several requests.

The press office said in an email that Young brings to the position 25 years of experience treating individuals with substance use disorder and made significant impact through her recent work with the Boston Emergency Services Team co-responder program.

“Kelli is passionate about strengthening partnerships, driving innovative solutions that significantly enhance the quality of life for all residents of Boston,” they wrote. “Her determined efforts are essential in creating a more supportive and thriving community for everyone.” Fox feels that community stakeholders such as himself are now nothing more than an audience made to observe the city’s decisions when it comes to the issues of Mass and Cass.

As the city works closely with private partners in shelter homeless across the city and visibility of homeless lowers during the winter months, Fox believes that there’s no better time than now to expand the conversations in time for spring when people are back out onto the streets.

“I don’t get the feeling that there is any commitment yet on the part of the city to say we want to put together a real plan, we want it to be a public process, we want everyone to come to the table, we want to be realistic about what’s possible and we want recommendations that we can actually sink our teeth into.”