Child welfare specialists have gathered from various parts of the country for this unusual mission under the initiative of the central government.
Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the other prefectures that were most severely damaged, are also preparing to accept those specialists and are expected to request their dispatches soon.
In Iwate, 17 specialists including psychologists and child minders from nurseries in Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Tokyo and Kanagawa have arrived. On Saturday, they met local counterparts and started their searches in the cities of Kamaishi, Ofunato and Rikuzentakata and the town of Otsuchi.
The experts will initially work in groups of three and look for children without parents at evacuation shelters along with people in charge at the shelters.
If there are any children who have no place to go, the specialists are planning to entrust them to temporary care homes at child consultation centers or host parents.
FOCUS: Efforts to search children orphaned by quake face challenges | Kyodo News
