The inspectorate said that following the last full inspection of children's services in Derbyshire in 2013, a large-scale restructure "led to a substantial reduction in leadership and managerial roles at all levels".
"Combined with a prolonged period of considerable instability across the workforce, this led to a significant deterioration in the quality of services for children," the inspection report states.
While the front door for child protection services were found to provide a "timely and effective" response when children are at risk of harm, inspectors said it takes too long to progress a minority of referrals when it is less clear about whether social care support is needed, meaning that a small number of children wait too long for their needs to be met.
Although the issues are now being addressed by the local authority, Ofsted said more progress needs to be made, rating the service as "requires improvement" overall.
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