PC for foster child

JuneBow

A family member is due to have a 14 year old foster girl next Monday. All she has is a carrier bag of her personal possessions.
We are not sure what she has, but I am assuming she has not got the things most teenagers have got eg Ipods, phones, pcs etc.
I have got an Ipod for her as I now have an Iphone, but she is very good at school apparently, so I am going to get her a laptop if she has not got one. Obviously they will buy her clothes etc, so probably cannot afford "extras" yet.
Is there any sort of scheme where I could get a one for her.
Failing that, what is the cheapest PC out there that would be suitable.
Many thanks.

bod1467

It depends on what she's going to use it for.

If it's just website browsing, Facebook etc. then maybe consider a cheap tablet? http://www.ebuyer.com/search?price=79+TO+200&cat=409

If she'll need to do homework on it (Word documents etc.) then you'll likely be looking at a laptop. Maybe consider a refurbished one? (Gives a decent spec at a reasonable price).

Elliott_Fox

A laptop would be the bast way to go in terms of saving money at the moment. Anything you can find with modest specs should be fine:

Cpu 2ghz +
Ram 4gb +
Harddrive 300gb+

But you will still be paying £200+

neilwoods

There may be some schemes out there, but i would think that the foster parents would have to apply for it.

Ebuyer do some entry levels laptops from about £250.

Argos do some netbooks from £150 at the moment, won't be the fastest machine out there, but fine for browsing, school work, etc.

All depends your budget

theGrinch

I think you could ask her social worker or department to investigate as there was a scheme operating at our local council a couple of years ago.

Jamie_Carter

As theGrinch said, check with social services. I'm sure that they provide PC's for foster children.

JuneBow

Many thanks for the replies.
I had thought that £350 would be the sort of money I was looking at.
I wanted to get her a new one. Firstly, she probably has not had anything new in her life, but also with PCs, they seem so cheap and improve so quickly, it did not seem worth it.
My kids have both got PCs that they have had for about 3-4 years, and with the improvement in technology, I think the computer for her would probably be faster and have more memory than theirs. Theirs seems to do all that they want to do.
I am not keen on a tablet as I think it is not so good for homework etc.
Thanks again.

renegade

As the foster child is not yet in place yet with your sister, I don't think your should buy her anything so expensive, it not your place.
Buy her a welcoming gift by all means.

Your sister will be discussing the childs needs and requirements at a planning meeting.

macman

Meet the child first?

JimmyTheWig

Fostering can be a short-term thing. Your family member may have many different young people living with them over the next year or two. Would you be planning on buying all of them a laptop each?

Would make more sense to me for the family (whether funded by you or not) to have a laptop that the foster children can use.

megc_2

Wait. A week is a long time in fostering terms and the child is not yet placed. Also, if its a planned placement, which from what you say, it sounds like it is (they know she is coming, she's not being placed in an emergency with very little notice) she may well have quite a lot of her own possessions, including a PC etc. Don't take things for granted.
Many local authorities provide looked after children in high school with a laptop to support their education, so she may well have one or be given one through her social worker.
I love the fact that you are so keen to support this child and welcome her into your wider family- as a fostering social worker, I wish this was always the case. But I would advise you to wait until this girl is placed first, get to know her a little and don't smother her with love and gifts, however well meaning you are. Depending on her history and past experiences, the girl may find this very hard to deal with, misunderstand your motives and struggle with it.