Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
This is the reason that treatment programs actually exist. I needed enough time away from my self-destructive patterns to see that self-destructive patterns existed. Lack of will-power has never been my problem. In fact, I have tremendous will-power. I will continue to do something that is destroying me even after those with lesser wills would have decided it was a good idea to stop. I did time in a facility to protect me from me and now base long-term recovery on a 24 hour at a time basis. I am not sure what your government job entails, but addiction is not as stigmatized as it once was. HIPAA laws protect people from having their immediate supervisors become aware of their circumstances. FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) exists to protect people like us. Fear is an ugly thing. It will twist my perception to the point where I am paralyzed. In that paralysis I continued to use even when I no longer wanted to because it was the only way that was apparent to me.
Actually inpatient treatment programs "work so well" primarily because they are a cash cow. Getting time away from one's drug using lifestyle is very very important in early recovery as you point out, but at some point you'll have to go back. They are actually beginning to find that well structures IOP programs with the appropriate medical supervision and working with a qualified team of professionals has higher long terms rates of recovery than inpatient programs alone. But they don't make nearly as much money for those involved in operating them, hence they are less popular.
Sadly, at the end of the day, given the current popular treatment model in America it is all about money. Welcome to privatized addition treatment, where profit maximization and not patient outcome is the name of the game at the end of the day.