Is a temporary care and custody agreement voluntary, or can a society force a parent to sign one?

A temporary care and custody agreement is legally a voluntary agreement - a society cannot lawfully force you to sign one, and your consent has to be real consent, not something obtained through threats or misrepresentation about what will happen if you refuse. In practice, though, "voluntary" can still feel pressured: a worker may explain that if you don't agree to a temporary plan, the society may instead start a court application to have the child found in need of protection and removed anyway - and that can be a genuine possibility, not just a scare tactic, if the underlying safety concern is serious.

That's exactly why it's worth pausing before signing. Ask the worker what specifically happens if you don't sign, get the proposed terms in writing, and where possible, get a lawyer to review the agreement and the realistic alternative before you commit to anything. If you refuse and the society believes the concern is serious enough, it can bring the matter to court instead, where a judge - not the society alone - decides the issue, and you get a formal chance to respond.