Where social impact bonds have been proposed is in areas where there have been significant cuts to public funding. Public services are closed down and then social impact bonds are put forward to take their place. You see private finance replacing publicly offered services.
The first social impact bond in Saskatoon was for support for single mothers. Very similar services were offered by the Saskatoon Family Support Centre, which had been forced to close due to funding cuts.
The federal government is talking about using social finance for skills training. That comes after cuts to transfers to provinces for skills training.
In the U.K. cuts for vulnerable families were followed by proposals for social impact bonds.
Where those who say that social impact bonds don't replace public funding are completely correct is that the amount of money put into services under social impact bonds is a fraction of what is provided through public funding.