Scientists have declared with widespread consensus that our global climate is changing, getting warmer and causing widespread perturbations in ecosystems around the world. While fundamental research has been invaluable to enhancing our understanding of climate systems and of likely future climatic conditions, focusing on the global scale elides the truth about adapting to climate: that developing resiliency to climate change will be done at the country, region, local, or watershed scales. Consequently, policy makers from around the world are calling for the production and dissemination of more useful climate information: information that expands alternatives, clarifies choices and improves society's resilience to climate variability and change. The Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Program Office, seeks to do just that by producing usable climate science, sustainable decision support, and place-based integrated climate sciences for decision makers from a wide variety of sectors, including natural resource management, agriculture, and public health. This paper presents the findings from research that examined three RISA programs in order to assess whether use-inspired research does lead to improved decision support products, and thus, better policy outcomes. The findings have important implications for decision makers contemplating the development of a national climate service concerning appropriate scale for decision support efforts, management of a national service, and support for scientific research.