The public partner referral step asks three required questions about the referring case manager before it asks anything about the applicant, and every applicant telephone number on it is optional. On R-1027 the Mobile Phone field carries the case manager's own number, Preferred Phone points at it, and the one number that would reach the applicant is written in the free text area. This desk reads what was submitted, separates what has to be asked of the partner from what has to be asked of the applicant, quotes the public rule that governs each question, and hands the file to a person. Where the simulation has added an income answer, it places that answer against the figures published for 2026 in code and says so, because the observed partner step asks nothing about money. It determines no eligibility, answers no legal question and contacts nobody.
Scenario date: September 15, 2026. Every date on this page and in every answer below is read against that date, not against the day you open it.
The questions, options and branches read on the public partner referral step on 2026-09-15, each with its status: observed, partly observed, not accessible, or added. Nothing was submitted and nothing behind the Continue button was opened.
Ten invented referrals, invented partners and case managers, and the invented internal policy of an invented program. Every clause of it is labelled simulation policy, not this organization's policy.
Selected sections of 45 CFR 1611, 1620 and 1626 and the 2026 income appendix, quoted verbatim from eCFR with the source and the date. A working selection, not the whole of any part. Real rules, never paraphrased, never attributed to the organization.