The inspectorate has downgraded the department to "inadequate" for overall effectiveness, after finding a raft of child protection failures during an inspection in February.
Ofsted also rated leadership, support for children in need of help and protection, and support for care leavers and children in care as inadequate.
Inspectors warn that "vulnerable children are not safeguarded in Stoke-on-Trent". Thresholds for support are not being consistently applied, and there is ineffective management of risk.
A particular area of concern is a lack of foster care placements, with 56 children at the time of the inspection being placed in unregulated placements, some of which the council knows are "unsafe", warn inspectors. These are placements where the suitability of carers has not been fully assessed or approved.
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